
Glass T TR lJaMi 
Bonk T4- 







M 







St. Lawrence fastened to a gridiron and burned to death with a slow fire. 




Dreadful Sufferings of Primitive Martyrs. 



A 

UNIVERSAL HISTORY 

OF 

CHRISTIAN PERSECUTIONS 

AND 

MARTYRDOM: 

AN AUTHENTIC ACCOUNT 

OF THE MOST 

HORRID CRUELTIES AND TORTURES 

INFLICTED UPON 

EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

ILLUSTRATED WITH NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS. 

BY R. THOMAS. 



HARTFORD. 
PUBLISHED BY EZRA STRONG. 
1839. 



.v.* 



+*<* 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1839, by 

Ezra Strong, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Connecticut. 



STEREOTYi ED BY 
THOMAS MOOilK, BOSTON 



UNPARALLELED 

SUFFERINGS OF EARLY 

CHRISTIANS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Progress of the Reformation i?t the reign of Henry VIIL 

The reader will, doubtless, attend to the transactions recorded 
in this reign with peculiar interest. It was in this period that 
God, through the instrumentality of the king, liberated this 
country from the papal yoke, when England became, as it were, 
a religious world dependent on itself. 

The wars between the houses of York and Lancaster had 
produced such fatal revolutions, and thrown England into such 
frequent convulsions, that the nation with great joy hailed the 
accession o[ Henry VII. to the throne, who, being himself de- 
scended from the house of Lancaster, by his marriage with the 
heiress of the house of York freed them from the fear of any 
further civil wars. But the covetousness of his temper, the 
severity of his ministers, and his jealousy of the house of York, 
made him so generally odious to his people that his death was 
little lamented. 

Henry VIIL succeeded, with all the advantages he could 
have desired; and his disgracing Empson and Dudley, the 
cruel ministers of his father's avaricious designs, his appointing 
restitution to be made of the sums that had been unjustly 
exacted of the people, and his ordering justice to be done on 
those rapacious ministers, gave all people hopes of happy times ; 
and when ministers, by the king's orders, were condemned and 
1* 



6 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

executed for invading the liberties of the people under the cov- 
ert of the king's prerogative, it made the nation conclude that 
they should hereafter live secure under the protection of such a 
prince, and that the violent remedies of parliamentary judg- 
ments should be no more necessary, except as in this case, 
to confirm what had been done before in the ordinary courts of 
justice. 

One of the most remarkable men of this, or perhaps of any 
other age, was cardinal Wolsey. He was of mean extraction, 
but possessed of great abilities, and had wonderful dexterity in 
insinuating himself into men's favor. He had but a little time 
been introduced to the king when he obtained an entire ascen- 
dency over him, and the direction of all his affairs, and for 
fifteen years continued to be th£ most absolute favorite ever 
known in England. He saw the king was much set on his 
pleasures and had a great aversion to business, and the other 
counsellors, being unwilling to bear the load of affairs, were 
troublesome to him, by pressing him to govern by his own 
counsels ; but Wolsey ktiew the methods of favorites better, 
and so was not only easy, but assistant, to the king in his pleas- 
ures, frttd undertook to free him from the trouble of government, 
and to give him leisure to follow his appetites. 

He was master of all the offices at home and treaties abroad, 
so that all affairs went as he directed them. He soon became 
obnoxious to parliaments, and therefore tried but one during 
his ministry, where the supply was granted so scantily, that 
afterwards he chose rather to raise money by loans and benevo- 
lences than by the free gift of the people in parliament. He in 
time became so scandalous for his ill life, that he grew to be a 
disgrace to his profession ; for he not only served the king, but 
also shared with him, in his pleasures. He was first made 
bishop of Tournay, in Flanders, then of Lincoln, after that 
he was promoted to the see of York; and had both the abbey of 
St. Alban's, and the bishopric of Bath and Wells, in commen- 
dam; the last he afterwards exchanged for Duresm, and upon 
Fox's death he quitted Duresm, that he might take Winchester ; 
and besides all this, the king, by a special grant, gave him 
power to dispose of all the ecclesiastical preferments in Eng- 
land ; so that in effect he was the pope of the British world, 
and no doubt but he copied skilfully enough after those patterns 
that were set him at Rome. Being made a cardinal, and set- 
ting up a legatine court, he found it fit for his ambition to have 
the great seal likewise, that there might be no clashing between 
those two jurisdictions. He had, in one word, all the qualities 



PROGRESS OP THE REFORMATION. 7 

frecessary for a great minister, and all the vices usual in a great 
favorite. 

Tbe immunity of churchmen for crimes committed by them 
till they were first degraded by the spiritual court, occasioned a 
contest in the beginning of this reign between the secular and 
ecclesiastical courts. A law was passed under Henry the 
Seventh, that clerks convict should be burnt in the hand. A 
temporary law was also made in the beginning of Henry the 
Eighth's reign, that murderers and robbers, not being bish- 
ops, priests, nor deacons, should be denied the benefit of clergy ; 
but this was to last only till the next parliament, and so, being 
not continued by it, the act determined. The abbot of Win- 
chelcomb preached severely against it, as being contrary to the 
laws of God and the liberties of the holy church, and said that 
all who assented to it had fallen under the censures of the 
church. And afterwards he published a book to prove that all 
clerks, even of the lower orders, were sacred, and could not be 
judged by the temporal courts. 

Not long after this, Richard Hun, a merchant of London, was 
sued by his parish priest for a mortuary in the legate's court ; 
on this, his friends advised him to sue the priest in the temporal 
court for a praemunire for bringing the king's subjects before a 
foreign and illegal court. This incensed the clergy so much 
that they contrived his destruction. Accordingly, hearing that 
he had WicklifTe's Bible in his house, he was upon that put in 
the bishop's prison for heresy ; but being examined upon sun- 
dry articles, he confessed some things, and submitted himself to 
mercy ; upon which they ought, according to the law, to have 
enjoined him penance, and discharged him, this being his first 
crime ; but he could not be prevailed on by the terror of this 
to let his suit fall in the temporal court ; so one night his neck 
was broken with an iron chain, and he was wounded in other 
parts of his body, and then knit up in his own girdle, and it 
was given out that he had hanged himself; but the coroner's 
inquest, by examining the body, and by several other evidences, 
particularly by the confession of the sumner, gave their verdict 
that he was murdered. 

In the beginning of this reign, several persons were brought 
into the bishops' courts for heresy, or Lollardism. Forty-eight 
were accused : but of these, forty-three abjured, twenty-seven 
men and sixteen women, most of them being of Tenterden ; 
and five of them, four men and one woman, were condemned, 
Tsome as obstinate heretics, and others as relapsers : and, against 
the common laws of nature, the woman's husband, and her two 



8 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

sons, were brought as witnesses against her. Upon their con- 
viction, a certificate was made by the archbishop to the chance- 
ry ; upon which, since there is no pardon upon record, the writs 
for burning them must have been issued in course, and the 
execution of them is little to be doubted. The articles objected 
to them were, that they believed that in the eucharist there was 
nothing but material bread ; that the sacraments of baptim, con- 
firmation, confession, matrimony, and extreme unction, werd 
neither necessary nor profitable ; that priests had no more power 
than laymen ; that pilgrimages were not meritorious, and that 
the money and labor spent in them were spent in vain ; that 
images ought not to be worshiped, and that they were only 
stocks and stones ; that prayers ought not to be made to saints, 
but only to God ; that there was no virtue in holy water, or holy 
bread. By this it will appear, that many in this nation were 
prepared to receive those doctrines which were afterwards 
preached by the reformers, even before Luther began first to 
oppose indulgences. 

The rise and progress of the doctrines of Luther are well 
known : the scandalous sale of indulgences gave the first occa- 
sion to all that followed between him and the church of Kome ; 
in which, had not the corruptions and cruelties of the clergy 
been so visible and scandalous, so small a cause could never 
have produced so great a revolution. 

It was found that a blind superstition came first in the room 
of true piety ; and when by its means the wealth and interest 
of the clergy were highly advanced, the popes had upon that 
established their tyranny ; under which all classes of people 
had long groaned. All these things concurred to make way for 
the advancement of the reformation ; and the books of the Ger- 
man reformers being brought into England, and translated, 
many were prevailed on by them. Upon this, a furious perse- 
cution was set on foot, to such a degree, that six men and 
women were burnt in Coventry in passion-week, only for teach- 
ing their children the creed, the Lord's prayer, and the ten 
commandments, in English. Great numbers were everywhere 
brought into the bishops' courts ; of whom some were burnt, but 
the greater part abjured. 

The king laid hold on this occasion to become the champion 
of the church, and wrote aginst Luther. His book, besides 
the title of " Defender of the Faith," drew upon him all that 
flattery could invent to extol it ; yet Luther, not daunted by 
such an antagonist, answered it, and treated him as much below 
the respect that was due to a king, as his flatterers had raised 



Progress of the reformation. 9 

him above it. Tindal's translation of the New Testament, with 
notes, drew a severe condemnation from the clergy, there being 
nothing m which they are more concerned than to keep the 
people unacquainted with that book. 

Tindal and others at Antwerp were every year either trans- 
lating or writing books against some of the received errors, and 
sending them over to England. But the translation of the New 
Testament, by Tindal, gave the greatest ofTence, and was much 
complained of by the clergy as full of errors. Tonstall, then bi- 
shop of London, returning from Cambray, to which place Sir Tho- 
mas More and he had been sent by the king, as be came through 
Antwerp, bargained with an English merchant who was secretly 
a friend of Tindal to procure him as many of his New Testa- 
ments as could be had for money. Tindal gladly received this ; 
for being about a more correct edition, he found he would be 
better enabled to proceed if the copies of the old were sold off; 
he therefore gave the merchant all he had, and Tonstall, paying 
for them, brought them over to England, and burnt them pub- 
licly in Cheapside. This was called a burning of the word of 
God ; and it was said the clergy had reason to revenge them- 
selves on it, for it had done them more mischief than all other 
books whatever. But, a year after this, the second edition being 
finished, great numbers were sent over to England, when Con- 
stantine, one of Tindal's partners, happened to be taken : be* 
lieving that some of the London merchants furnished them with 
money, he was promised his liberty if he would discover who 
they were : upon this, he said that the bishop of London did 
more than all the world besides, for he bought up the greatest 
part of a faulty impression. The clergy, on their condemning 
Tindal's translation, promised a new one ; but, a year after, 
they said that it was not necessary to publish the scripture in 
English, and that the king did well not to set about it. 

About this time a book, written by Fish, of Gray's Inn, was 
published. It was entitled, " The Supplication of the Beggars," 
and had a vast sale. In it the beggars were made to complain 
that the alms of the people were intercepted by the mendicant 
friars, who were a useless burden to the government; and to 
tax the pope with cruelty for taking no pity on the poor, since 
none but those who could pay for it were delivered out of pur- 
gatory. The king was so pleased with this, that he would not 
suffer any thing to be done against the author. Sir Thomas 
More answered it by another supplication in behalf of the souls 
in purgatory, setting forth the miseries they were in, and the 
relief which they received by the masses that were said for 



lO SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

them ; and therefore they called upon their friends to support 
the religious orders, which had now so many enemies. 

Frith published a serious answer to the last-mentioned work* 
in which he showed that there was no mention made of purga- 
tory in scripture ; that it was inconsistent with the merits of 
Christ, by which, upon sincere repentance, all sins were par- 
doned ; for if they were pardoned, they could not be punished ; 
and though temporal judgments, either as medicinal corrections 
or a warning to others, do sometimes fall even on true peni- 
tents, yet terrible punishments in another state cannot consist 
with a free pardon, and the remembering of our sins no more. 
This book so provoked the clergy, that they resolved to make 
the author feel a real fire, for endeavoring to extinguish their 
imaginary one. 

Sir Thomas More objected poverty and want of learning to 
the new preachers ; but it was answered, the same was made 
use of to reproach Christ and his apostles ; but a plain simpli- 
city of mind, without artificial improvements, was rather thought 
a good disposition for men that were to bear a cross, and the 
glory of God appeared more eminently when the instruments 
seemed contemptible. 

But the pen being thought too feeble and gentle, the clergy 
betook themselves to persecution. Many were vexed with im- 
prisonments for teaching their children the Lord's prayer in 
English, for harboring the reformed preachers, and for speaking 
against the corruptions and vices of the clergy. 

Hinton, formerly a curate, who had gone over to Tindal, was 
seized on his way back with some books he was conveying to 
England, and was condemned by archbishop Warham. He 
was kept long in prison ; but remaining firm in the truth, he 
was, at length, burned at Maidstone. 

Thomas Bilney Was brought up at Cambridge from a child. 
On leaving the university, he preached in several places ; and 
in his sermons spoke with great boldness against the pride and 
insolence of the clergy. This was during the ministry of car- 
dinal Wolsey, who, hearing of his attacks, caused him to be 
seized and imprisoned. Overcome with fear, Bilney abjured, 
was pardoned, and returned to Cambridge in the year 1530. 
Here he fell into great horror of mind, in consequence of his 
instability and denial of the truth. He became ashamed of 
himself, bitterly repented of his sin, and, growing strong in 
faith, resolved to make some atonement by a public avowal 
of his apostasy, and confession of his sentiments. To prepare 
himself for this task, he studied the scriptures with deep atten- 



PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION. H 

tion for two years ; at the expiration of which he again quitted 
the university, went into Norfolk, where he was born, and 
preached up and down that county against idolatry and super- 
stition ; exhorting the people to a good life, to give alms, to 
believe in Christ, and to offer up their souls to him in the sacra* 
ment. He openly confessed his own sin of denying the faith ; 
and using no precaution as he went about, was soon taken by 
the bishop's officers, condemned as a relapse, and degraded. 
Sir Thomas More sent down the writ to burn him. Parker, 
afterwards archbishop, was an eye-witness of his sufferings, and 
affirms that he bore all his hardships with great fortitude and 
resignation, and continued very cheerful after his sentence. He 
ate up the poor provision that was brought him heartily, saying, 
he must keep up a ruinous cottage till it fell. He had these 
words of Isaiah often in his mouth, u When thou walkest 
through the fire, thou shalt not be burnt :" and by burning his 
finger in the candle, he prepared himself for the stake ; saying, 
the fire would only consume the stubble of his body, and would 
purify his soul. 

On the 10th of November he was brought to the stake, where 
he repeated the creed, prayed earnestly, and with the deepest 
sense repeated these words, " Enter not into judgment with 
thy servant, Lord !" Dr. Warner, who attended, embraced 
him, shedding many tears, and wishing he might die in as good 
a frame of mind as Bilney then was. The friars requested him 
to inform the people that they were not instrumental to his 
death, which he did ; so that the last act of his life was one of 
charity and forgiveness. 

The officers then put the reeds and fagots about his body, 
and set fire to the first, which made a great flame, and disfigur- 
ed his face : he held up his hands, and struck his breast, crying 
sometimes " Jesus," sometimes " Credo !"' but the flame was 
blown away from him several times, the wind being very high, 
till at length the wood taking fire, the flame was stronger, and 
so he yielded up the ghost. His body, being shrunk up, leaned 
down on the chain, till one of the officers with his halberd 
struck out the staple of the chain behind him, on which it fell 
down into the bottom of the fire, when it was covered with 
wood, and consumed. 

The sufferings, the confession, and the heroic death, of this 
martyr, inspirited and animated others to imitate his conduct. 

Byfield, who had formerly abjured, was taken dispersing 
TmdaPs books ; and he, with one Tewkesbury, was condemned 
by Stokesly, and burnt. Two men and a woman suffered also 



12 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

the same fate at York. Upon these proceedings, the parlia- 
ment complained to the king ; bat this did not check the san- 
guinary proceedings of the clergy. One Bainham, a counsellor 
of the Temple, was taken on suspicion of heresy, whipped in 
the presence of Sir Thomas More, and afterwards racked in the 
Tower, yet he could not be wrought on to accuse any, but 
through fear he abjured. After this, however, being discharged, 
he was in great trouble of mind, and could find no quiet till he 
went publicly to church, where he openly confessed his sins, 
and declared the torments he felt in his conscience for what he 
had done. Upon this he was again seized on, and condemned 
for having said that Thomas Becket was a murderer, and was 
damned if he did not repent ; and that in the sacrament Christ's 
body was received by faith, and not chewed with the teeth. 
Sentence was passed upon him, and he was burnt. Soon after 
this, More delivered up the great seal, in consequence of which 
the reformed preachers had a short respite. 

But the persecution soon revived, and its rage stopped not at 
the living, but vented itself even on the dead. Lord Tracy 
made a will, by which he left his soul to God, in hopes of mercy 
through Christ, without the help of any saint; and therefore he 
declared that he would leave nothing for soul-masses. This 
will, being brought to the bishop of London's court to be proved, 
after his death, provoked the clergy so much,^ that he was 
condemned as a heretic, and an order was sent to the chancellor 
of Worcester to raise his body ; but he went beyond his instruc- 
tions, and burnt it, which could not be justified, since the de- 
ceased was not a relapse. Tracy's heir sued him for it, and he 
was turned out of his place, and fined four hundred pounds. 

The clergy proclaimed an indulgence of forty days' pardon 
to any that carried a fagot to the burning of a heretic, that so 
cruelty might seem the more meritorious. 

The reformed now enjoyed a respite of two years, when the 
crafty Gardiner represented to the king, that it would tend 
much to his advantage if he would take some occasion to show 
his hatred of heresy. Accordingly, a young man named Frith 
was chosen as a sacrifice to this affected zeal for religion, He 
was a young man much famed for learning, and was the first 
who wrote in England against the corporeal presence in the 

* We shall not be surprised at their anger, if we consider that they 
foresaw, in the event of Lord Tracy's example being followed, the aboli- 
tion of the most profitable part of their traffic. They railed against him 
on the same grounds as Demetrius the silversmith did against Paul at 
Ephesus— they feared that "their craft was in. danger." 



PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION. 13 

sacrament. He followed Zuinglius's doctrine, on these grounds ; 
Christ, received in the sacrament, gave eternal life, but this was 
given only to those who believed, from which he inferred that 
he was received only by faith. St. Paul said, that the fathers 
before Christ ate the same spiritual food with Christians ; from, 
which it appears, that Christ is now no more corporeally present 
to us than he was to them ; and he argued, from the nature of 
sacraments in general, and the end of the Lord's Supper, that it 
was only a commemoration. Yet, upon these premises, he 
built no other conclusion but that Christ's presence was no arti- 
cle of faith. 

For these opinions he was seized on, in May, 1533, and 
brought before Stokesly, Gardiner, and Longland. They charge 
ed him with not believing in purgatory and transubstantiation. 
He gave the reasons that determined him to look on neither of 
these as articles of faith ; but thought that neither the affirming 
nor denying them ought to be determined positively. The 
bishops seemed unwilling to proceed to sentence ; but he conti- 
nuing resolute, Stokesly pronounced it, and so delivered him to 
the secular arm, desiring that his punishment might be mode- 
rated. This request was thought a mockery, when all the 
world knew that it was intended to burn him. One Hew r et, an 
apprentice of London, was also condemned with him on th§ 
same account. 

They were brought to the stake at Smithfield, on the 4th of 
July, 1533. On arriving there, Frith expressed great joy, and 
hugged the fagots with transport : a priest, named Cook, who 
stood by, called to the people not to pray for them more than 
they would do for a dog : at this Frith smiled, and prayed God 
to forgive him : after which the fire w T as kindled, which con? 
sumed them to ashes. 

This was the last instance of the cruelty of the clergy at that 
time ; for the act regulating their proceedings followed soon 
after. 

This act gave the new preachers and their followers some 
respite. The king was also empowered to reform all heresies 
and idolatries : and his affairs obliged him to unite himself to 
the princes of Germany, that, by their means, he might so 
embroil the emperor's affairs, as not to give him leisure to turn 
his arms against England ; and this produced a slackening of 
all severities against them ; for those princes, in the first fervor 
of the reformation, made it an article in all their treaties, that 
none should be persecuted for favoring their doctrine. The 
queen also openly protected the reformers ; she took Latimer 
2 



14 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

and Shaxton to be her chaplains, and promoted them to the 
bishoprics of Worcester and Salisbury. 

As Cranmer and Cromwell set themselves to carry on a 
reformation, another party was formed who as vigorously opposed 
it. This was headed by the duke of Norfolk and Gardiner ; 
and almost all the clergy lent their strength to it. They per- 
suaded the king that nothing would give the pope or the empe- 
ror so much advantage, as his making any changes in religion ; 
and it would reflect much on him, if he, who had written so 
learnedly for the faith, should, from spite to the pope, make any 
changes in it. Nothing would encourage other princes so much 
to follow his example, or keep his subjects so faithful to him, 
as his continuing steadfast in the ancient religion. 

These reasonings made great impression on him. But, on 
the other hand, Cranmer represented to him that, if he rejected 
the pope's authority, it was very absurd to let such opinions or 
practices continue in the church, as had no other foundation but 
papal decrees : he exhorted the king to depend on God, and 
hope for good success if he proceeded in this matter according 
to the duty of a Christian prince. England, he said, was a 
complete body within itself; and though in the Born an empire, 
when united under one prince, general councils were easily 
assembled, yet now many difficulties were in the way, for it 
was evident, that though both the emperor and the princes of 
Germany had for twenty years desired a general council, it 
could not be obtained of the pope ; he had indeed offered one at 
Mantua, but that was only an illusion. Every prince ought, 
therefore, to reform the church in his dominions by a national 
synod. 

The nobility and gentry were generally well satisfied with 
the change in ecclesiastical affairs ; but the body of the people, 
being more under the power of the priests, were filled with fears 
on the subject. It was said, amongst them, that the king 
now joined himself to heretics ; that the queen, Cranmer, and 
Cromwell, favored them. It was left free to dispute what were 
articles of faith, and what were only the decrees of popes ; and 
the most important changes might be made, under the pretence 
that they only rejected those opinions which were supported by 
the papal authority. 

The first act of his new power was the making Cromwell 
vicar-general, and visiter of all the monasteries and churches of 
England, with a delegation of the king's supremacy to him ; he 
was also empowered to give commissions subaltern to himself; 
and all wills, where the estate was in value above two hundred 



PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION. 15 

pounds, were to be proved in his court. This was afterwards 
enlarged ; he was made the king's vicegerent in ecclesiastical 
matters, had the precedence of all persons except the royal 
family ; and his authority was in all points the same as had 
been formerly exercised by the pope's legates. 

In October the general visitation of the monasteries was 
begun ; and the visiters were instructed to inquire, whether the 
houses had the full number according to their foundation? if 
they performed divine worship at the appointed hours ? what 
exemptions they had ? what were their statutes ? how their 
superiors were chosen? whether they lived according to the 
severities of their orders ? how their lands and revenues were 
managed ? what hospitality was kept ? what care was taken of 
the novices ? what benefices were in their gift, and how they 
disposed of them ? how the enclosures of the nunneries were 
kept ? whether the nuns went abroad, or if men were admitted 
to come to them ? how they employed their time, and what 
priests they had as their confessors ? 

The visiters were also ordered to deliver some injunctions in 
the king's name, as to his supremacy, and the act of succession ; 
and were authorized to absolve every one from any rules or 
oaths of ohedience to the pope. 

The visiters went over England, and found in many places 
monstrous disorders. The most horrible and disgusting crimes 
were found to be practised in many of the houses ; and vice 
and cruelty were more frequently the inmates of these pretended 
sanctuaries than religion and piety. The report contained 
many abominable things, not fit to be mentioned : some of these 
were printed, but the greatest part was lost. 

The first house that was surrendered to the king was Lang- 
den, in Kent ; the abbot of which was found in bed with a 
woman, who went in the habit of a lay brother. To prevent 
greater evil to himself, he and ten of his monks signed a resig- 
nation of their house to the king. Two other monasteries in 
the same county, Folkstone and Dover, followed their example. 
And in the following year, four others made the like surren- 
ders. 

On January 8, 1536, queen Catharine died. She had been 
resolute in maintaining her title and state, saying, that since the 
pope had judged her marriage was good, she would die rather 
than do any thing to prejudice it. She desired to be buried 
among the Observant friars, who had most strongly supported 
her, and suffered for her cause. She expired at Kimbolton, in 
the fiftieth year of her age, having been thirty-three years in 



iG SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

England. She was devout and exemplary; patient and 
charitable. Her virtues and her sufferings created an esteem 
for her in all ranks of people. The king ordered her to be buried 
in the abbey of Peterborough, and was somewhat affected at her 
death ; but the natural barbarity of his temper prevented him 
from feeling much remorse on the reflection that he had embit- 
tered the existence of a woman who loved and reverenced him. 

The same year the parliament confirmed the act empowering 
thirty-two persons to' revise the ecclesiastical laws ; but no time 
being limited for finishing it, it had no effect. The chief busi- . 
ness of this Session, was the suppressing of all monasteries 
whose revenues did not exceed two hundred pounds a year. 
Th-e act sets forth the great disorders of those houses, and the 
many unsuccessful attempts made to reform them. The reli- 
gious that were in them, were ordered to be placed, in the 
greater houses, and the revenues given to the king. The king 
Was also empowered to make new foundations of such of the 
suppressed houses as he pleased, which were, iri all, three hun- 
dred and seventy. 

The 1 popish party saw, with disappointment and concern, that 
tile queen was the great obstacle to their designs. She grew 
not only in the king's esteem, but in the love of the nation. 
During the last nine months of her life she bestowed above 
fourteen thousand pounds in alms to the poor, and seemed tc* 
delight in doing good. Soon after Catharine's death, Anne 
bore a dead son, which was believed to have made an unfavora- 
ble impression on the king's mind. It was also considered* 
that, now queen Catharine was dead, the king might marry 
another, and regain the friendship of the pope and the emperor, 
and that the 1 fssue by any other marriage would never be ques- 
tioned. With these reasons of state the king's affections joined ; 
for he was now in love (if so heartless a monster was capable" 
of feeling love) with Jane Seymour, whose disposition war. 
tempered between the gravity of Catharine and the gayety of 
Anno. The latter used all possible arts to reinflame his dying 
affection ; but he was weary of her, and therefore determine*! 
on he* destruction ; to effect which he soon (omul a pretence* 
Lady Rochford, wife to the brother of Anne, basely accused her 
husband of a criminal intercourse with his sister; and Norris, 
Weston, and Brereton, the king's servants, with Smeton, a mu- 
sician, were accused of the same crime. 

On the 15th of May the queen and her brother, lord Roch- 
ford, were tried before the duke of Norfolk, as high steward, 
and a court of twenty-seven peers. The crime charged on her 



PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION. 17 

was, that she had procured her brother and four others to lie 
with her ; and had often said to them, that the king never had 
her heart ; and this was to the slander of the issue begotten 
between the king and her, which was treason by the act that 
confirmed her marriage, so that the act made for the marriage 
was now turned to her ruin. Upon her own confession, her 
marriage with the king was judged null from the beginning, 
and she was condemned, although nothing could be more con- 
tradictory ; for if she was never the king's wife, she could not 
be guilty of adultery, there being no breach of the faith of wed- 
lock if they were never truly married. But the king was 
resolved both to be rid ef her, and to illegitimatize his daugh- 
ter by her. 

The day before her death, she sent her last message to the 
king, asserting her innocence, recommending her daughter to his 
care, and thanking him for his advancing her first to be a mar- 
chioness, then a queen, and now, when he could raise her no 
higher on earth, for sending her to be a saint in heaven. 

A little before noon, she was brought to the place of execu- 
tion ; there were present some of tire chief officers and great 
men of the court She was, it seems, prevailed on, out of re- 
£-ard to her daughter, to make no reflections on the cruel treat- 
ment she met with, nor to say any thing touching the grounds 
on which sentence passed against her. She only desired that 
all would judge the best ; she highly commended the king, and 
then took her leave of the world. She remained for some time 
in her private devotions, and concluded, " To Christ I commend 
my soul ;" upon which the executioner struck off her head : 
and so little respect was paid to her body, that it was with brutaJ 
insolence put in a chest of elm-tree made to send arrows into 
Ireland, and then buried in the chapel in the Tower. Norris 
then had his life promised him if he would accuse her. But 
this faithful and virtuous servant said he knew she was innocent, 
and would die a thousand deaths rather than defame her ; so 
he and the three others were beheaded, and all of them continu- 
ed to the last to vindicate her. The day after queen Anne's 
death the king married Jane Seymour, who gained more upon 
him than all his wives ever did ; but she was fortunate that 
she did not outlive his love to her. 

Pope Clement the Seventh was now dead, and cardinal Far* 
nese succeeded him by the name of Paul the Third, who made 
an attempt to reconcile himself with the king ; but, when that 
was rejected, thundered out a most terrible sentence of deposi- 
tion against him. Yet now, since the two queens upon whose 
2# 



IS SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS; 

account the breach was made were out of the way, he thought 
it a fit time to attempt the recovery of the papal interest, and 
ordered Cassali to let the king know that he had been driven? 
very much against his mind, to pass sentence against him, and 
that now it would be easy for him to recover the favor of the 
apostolic see. 

But the king, instead of hearkening to the proposition, caused 
two acts to be passed, by one of which it was made a praemunire 
for any one to acknowledge the authorty of the pope, or to 
persuade others to it ; and by the other, all bulls, and all privi- 
leges flowing from them, were declared null and void ; only 
marriages or consecrations made by virtue of them were excepted. 

When these proceedings w'ere knowri at Rome, the pope 
immediately fulminated against the king all the thunders of his 
spiritual store-house ; absolved his subjects from their allegi- 
ance, and his allies from their treaties with him ; and exhorted 
all Christians to make war against and extirpate him from the 
face of the earth. But the age of crusades was past, and this 
display of impotent malice produced only contempt in the minds 
of the king and his advisers, who steadily proceeded in the 
great work of reformation \ and, the translation of the Bible 
into English being now completed, it Was printed, and ordered 
to be read in all churches, with permission for every person to 
read it who might be so disposed. 

But, notwithstanding the king's disagreement with the pope 
ori many subjects, there was orie pfrint on which they were 
alike — ihey were both intolerant, furious bigots ; and while the 
former was excommunicated as a heretic, he was himself equally 
zealous in rooting out heresy, and burning all who presumed to 
depart from the standard of faith which he had established. 

Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, strengthened this disposition 
of the king, and persuaded him, under the pretext of a zeal for 
religion, to persecute the Sacramentarists, or those who denied 
the corporeal presence in the sacrament. 

In consequence of this determination, John Lambert, a teach- 
er oflaiiguages in London, who had drawn up ten arguments 
against the tenets of Dr. Taylor, on the above subject, as 
delivered in a sermon at St. Peter's church, and presented them 
to the doctor, was brought before the archbishop's court to 
defend his writings ; and, having appealed to the king, the 
royal theologian, who was proud of every occasion of displaying 
his talents and learning, resolved to hear him m person. He 
therefore issued a commission, ordering all his nobility and 
bishops to repair to London to assist him against heretics. 



PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION. 19 

A day was appointed for a disputation, when a great number 
of persons of all ranks assembled to witness the proceedings, 
and Lambert was brought from his prison by a guard, and 
placed directly opposite to the king. 

Henry, being seated on his throne, and surrounded by the 
peers, bishops, and judges, regarded the prisoner with a stern 
countenance, and then commanded Day, bishop of Chichester, 
to state the occasion of the present assembly. 

The bishop made a long oration, stating that, although the 
king had abolished the papal authority in England, it was not 
to be supposed that he would allow heretics with impunity to 
disturb and trouble the church of which he was the head. He 
had therefore determined to punish all schismatics ; and being 
willing to have the advice of his bishops and counsellors on so 
great an occasion, had assembled them to hear the arguments 
in the present case. 

The oration being concluded, the king ordered Lambert to 
declare his opinion as to the sacrament of the Lord's supper, 
which he did, by denying it to be the body of Christ. 

The king then commanded Cranmer to refute his assertion, 
which the latter attempted ; but was interrupted by Gardiner, 
who vehemently interposed, and, being unable to bring argu- 
ment to his aid, sought by abuse and virulence to overpower his 
antagonist, who was not allowed to answer the taunts and 
insults of the bishop. 

Tomstal and Stokesly followed in the same course, and Lam- 
bert, beginning to answer them, was silenced by the king. 
The other bishops then each made a speech in confutation of 
one of Lambert's arguments, till the whole ten were answered, 
or rather railed against : he was not permitted to defend them, 
however misrepresented. 

At last, when the dayligt was passed, and torches began to 
be lighted, the king, desiring to break up this pretended dispu- 
tation, said to Lambert, " What sayest thou now, after all these 
great labors which thou hast taken upon thee, and all the rea- 
sons and instructions of these learned men ? Art thou not yet 
satisfied ? Wilt thou live or die ? What sayest thou ? Thou 
hast yet free choice." 

Lambert replied, " I commend my soul unto the hands of 
God, but my body I wholly yield and submit unto your 
clemency." To which the king answered, " If you do commit 
yourself unto my judgment, you must die, for I will not be a 
patron unto heretics ;" and, turning to Cromwell, he said, 
" Read the sentence of condemnation against him," which he 
accordingly did. 



20 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

Upon the day appointed for this holy martyr to suffer, he was 
brought out of the prison at eight o'clock in the morning to the 
house of Cromwell, and carried into his inner chamber, where, 
it is said, Cromwell desired his forgiveness for what he had 
done. Lambert being at last admonished that the hour of his 
death was at hand, at being brought out of the chamber, into 
the hall, saluted the gentlemen present, and sat down to break- 
fast with them, showing neither sadness nor fear. When 
breakfast was ended, he was carried straight to the place of 
execution at Smithfield. 

The manner of his death was dreadful; for after his legs 
were consumed and burned up to the stumps, and but a small 
fire was left under him, two of the inhuman monsters who stood 
on each side of him pierced him with their halberds, and lifted 
him up as far as the chain would reach ; while he, raising his half- 
consumed hands, cried unto the people in these words : " None 
but Christ, none but Christ ;" and so being let down again from 
their halberds, fell into the fire, and there ended his life. 

The popish party greatly triumphed at this event, and endea- 
vored to improve it. They persuaded the king of the good 
effects it would have on his people, who would in this see his 
zeal for the faith ; and they forgot not to magnify all that he 
had said, as if it had been uttered by an oracle, which proved 
him to be both " Defender of the Faith, and Supreme Head of 
the Church." All this wrought so much on the king, that he 
resolved to call a parliament for the contradictory purposes of sup- 
pressing the still remaining monasteries, and extirpating the 
u new opinions." 

The parliament accordingly met on the 28th of April, 1538 ; 
and after long debates, passed what was called " a bill of reli- 
gion," containing six articles, by which it was declared, that the 
elements in the sacrament were the real body and blood of 
Christ ; that communion was necessary only in one kind ; that 
priests ought not to marry ; that vows of chastity ought to be 
observed ; that private masses were lawful and useful ; and 
that auricular confession was necessary. 

This act gave great satisfaction to the popish party, and 
induced them to consent more readily to the act for suppressing 
the monasteries, which immediately followed ; by virtue of 
which, their total dissolution soon after took place. The king 
founded six new bishoprics from a small portion of their im- 
mense revenues, and lavished the remainder on his profligate 
courtiers and favorites. 

In 1540, a bill was passed for the suppression of the knights 
of St. John of Jerusalem, both in England and Ireland. 



PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION. 



21 



In this year, also, Cromwell, who had so long been a favorite 
of the king, and had held the highest offices, was suddenly 
disgraced, and committed to the Tower. He had many enemies ; 
the nobility, from jealousy at beholding a man of obscure birth 
promoted to the peerage, und enjoying great power and influ- 
ence ; and the popish clergy, from the belief that the suppres- 
sion of the monasteries and the innovations on their religion 
were principally produced by his counsels. The fickle tyrant 
whom he had so long and faithfully served, was also displeased 
with him as the adviser of his marriage with Anne of Cleves, 
whom he was now anxious to get rid of, in order to obtain the 
hand of Catharine Howard, niece of the duke of Norfolk. He 
suspected him likewise of secretly encouraging an opposition to 
the six articles, and hoped, by sacrificing a man who was obnox- 
ious to the Catholics, to regain their affections, forfeited by his 
sanguinary and rapacious proceedings. 

In the house of lords a bill of attainder was passed with the 
most indecent haste ; but in the commons it met with opposition, 
and, after a delay of ten days, a new bill was framed and sent 
up to the lords, in which Cromwell was designated as " the 
most corrupt traitor ever known ;" his treasons, as afterwards 
specified, consisting in the countenance and favor he had shown 
to the reformers. On these grounds he was attainted both for 
treason and heresy. 

The king now proceeded with his divorce; and, although 
there was no reason to dispute the legality of his marriage with 
Anne of Cleves, still, as she was disagreeable to his royal taste, 
his sycophants were too well taught to offer the least opposition 
to his wishes. The convocation unanimously dissolved the 
marriage, and gave him liberty to marry again ; indeed, it is 
probable that if he had desired to have two or more wives at 
once, the measure would have been sanctioned, so base and 
servile were the courtiers and priests by whom this monstrous 
tyrant was surrounded. The queen continued to reside in 
England, being declared " the adopted sister" of the king, and 
having a pension of four thousand pounds per annum. 

Cromwell was executed on the 28th of July, and his fall gave 
a great check to the reformation in England ; Cranmer being 
left almost alone to struggle against a host of enemies. 

The clergy now, elated by the victory which they had gained 
by the death of Cromwell, persuaded the king to new severities 
against the reformers ; and three eminent preachers, Dr. Barnes, 
Garret, and Jerome, were picked out for sacrifices on this 
occasion. 



£2 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHIilSYiANS. 

Dr. Barnes was educated in the university of Lou vain, in 
Brabant. On his return to England he went to Cambridge, 
where he was made prior and master of the house of the Au- 
gustines. The darkest ignorance pervaded the university at 
the time of his arrival there ; but he, zealous to promote know- 
ledge and truth, began to instruct the students in the classical 
languages, and, with the assistance of Parnel, his scholar, whom 
he had brought from Louvain, soon caused learning to flourish, 
and the university to bear a very different aspect. 

These foundations being laid, he began to read openly the 
epistles of St. Paul, and to teach in greater purity the doctrine 
of Christ. He preached and disputed with great warmth against 
the luxuries of the higher clergy, particularly against cardinal 
Wolsey, and the lamentable hypocrisy of the times. But still 
he remained ignorant of the great cause of these evils, namely, 
the idolatry and superstition of the church ; and while he de- 
claimed against the stream, he himself drank at the spring, and 
bowed down to idols. At length, happily becoming acquainted 
with Bilney, he was by that martyr wholly converted unto 
Christ. 

The first sermon Barnes preached of this truth was on the 
Sunday before Christmas day, at St. Edward's church, in 
Cambridge. His theme was the epistle of the same Sunday, 
" Gaudete in Domino" &c. For this sermon he was immedi- 
ately accused of heresy by two fellows of King's Hall, before 
the vice-chancellor. After preaching some time, he was arrest- 
ed openly in the convocation-house, brought to London, and the 
next morning carried to the palace of cardinal Wolsey, at 
Westminster, where, after waiting the whole day, he was at 
night brought before the cardinal in his chamber of state. 

He was then committed to the custody of the serjeant-at-arms 
who had brought him to London, and by whom he was the next 
morning brought before the bishops ; who, on examining the 
articles of his faith, which he had delivered to the cardinal, asked 
if he would sign them, which he did, and was thereupon com- 
mitted to the Fleet. 

On the Saturday following, he was again brought before the 
bishops, who called upon him to know whether he would abjure 
or burn. He was then greatly agitated, and felt inclined rather 
to burn than abjure ; but was persuaded by some persons to 
abjure, which he at length consented to do, and the abjuration 
being put into his hand, he abjured as it was there written, and 
then he subscribed it with his own hand ; yet his judges would 
scarcely receive him into the bosom of the church, as they term- 



PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION. 23 

ed it. Then they put him to an oath, and charged him to do 
all that they commanded him, which he accordingly promised. 

He was then again committed to the Fleet, and the next 
morning was brought to St. Paul's church, with five others who 
had abjured. Here the cardinal, bishops, and clergy being 
assembled in great pomp, the bishop of Rochester preached a 
sermon against the doctrines of Luther and Barnes. Then 
Barnes, and the others who had abjured, were carried thrice 
about the fire, after which they were brought to the bishops, and 
kneeled down for absolution. The bishop of Rochester stand- 
ing up, declared that Dr. Barnes, with the others, was received 
into the church again. After which they were recommitted to 
theFleetduring the cardinal's pleasure. 

Dr. Barnes having remained in the Fleet half a year, was 
placed in the custody of the Austin friars in London ; from 
whence he was removed to the Austin friars of Northampton, 
there to be burned ; of which intention, however, he was per- 
fectly ignorant. Being informed of the base designs of his 
enemies, however, he, by a stratagem, escaped, and reached 
Antwerp, where he dwelt in safety, and was honored with the 
friendship of the best and most eminent reformers of the time, 
as Luther, Melancthon, the duke of Saxony, and others. Indeed, 
so great was his reputation, that the king of Denmark sent him 
as one of his ambassadors to England. Barnes remained in 
England unmolested; and departed again without restraint. 
He returned to Wittemberg, where he remained to forward his 
works in print which he had begun, after which he returned 
again to England. He was afterwards sent ambassador by 
Henry to the duke of Cleves, upon the business of the marriage 
between Anne of Cleves and the king ; and gave great satisfac- 
tion in every duty which was intrusted to him. 

Not long after the arrival of Gardiner from France, Dr. Barnes 
and other reformed preachers were apprehended and carried 
before the king at Hampton court, where Barnes was examined. 
The king, being desirous to bring about an agreement between 
him and Gardiner, granted him leave to go home with the bishop 
to confer with him. But they not agreeing, Gardiner and his 
party sought to entangle and entrap Barnes and his friends in 
further danger, which not long after was brought to pass. For, 
by certain complaints made to the king of them, they were 
enjoined to preach three sermons the following Easter at the 
Spittle ; at which sermons, besides other reporters which were 
sent thither, Stephen Gardiner also was there present, sitting 
with the mayor, either to bear record of their recantation, or 



24 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

else, as the Pharisees came to Christ, to ensnare them in their 
talk, if they should speak any thing amiss. Barnes preached 
first; and at the conclusion of his sermon, requested Gardiner, 
if he thought he had said nothing contradictory to truth, to hold 
up his hand in the face of all present ; upon which Gardiner 
immediately held up his finger. Notwithstanding this, they 
were all three sent for to Hampton court, whence they wore 
conducted to the Tower, where they remained till they were 
brought out to death, 

Thomas Garret was a curate of London, About the year 
1526, he came to Oxford, and brought with him sundry books 
in Latin, treating of the scriptures, with the first part of Unio 
disside?itium, and Tindal's first translation of the New Testa- 
ment in English, which books he sold to several scholars in 
Oxford, 

After he had been there awhile, and had disposed of those 
books, news came from London that he was sought for in that 
city to be apprehended as a heretic, and to be imprisoned for 
selling those heretical publications, as they were termed. Fox 
it was not unknown to cardinal Wolsey, the bishop of London, 
and others, that Mr. Garret had a great number of those books, 
and that he was gone to Oxford to sell them to such as he 
knew to be lovers of the gospel. Wherefore they determined 
to make a privy search through all Oxford, to apprehend and 
imprison him, and to burn all his books, and him too if they 
could. But, happily, one of the proctors gave Mr. Garret secret 
warning of this privy search, and advised that he should imme- 
diately and privately depart from Oxford. 

By means of another friend, a curacy was procured for him 
in Dorsetshire, and he set out for that county, but being waylaid 
by his enemies, was unable to proceed, and therefore returned 
to Oxford, where he was, on the same night, apprehended in 
his bed, and was ordered, by the commissary of the university, 
to be confined in his own chamber, till further directions were 
received respecting him. He escaped in disguise, but was 
retaken, and being convicted as a heretic, carried a fagot in 
token of his abjuration, at St, Mary's church in Oxford ; after 
which we meet with nothing further respecting him till his 
apprehension with Dr. Barnes. 

William Jerome was vicar of Stepney, and being convinced 
of, and disgusted at, the errors of the church of Rome, he preach- 
ed with great zeal, and set up the pure and simple doctrines of 
the gospel against the perversions and traditions of man. 

At length, in a sermon at St. Paul's, on the fourth Sundav in 




Martyrdom of Julius Palmer, John Gwin and Thomas Askine, at 
Newport, Berkshire, A. D. 1556. 




Execution of Catherine Cowches, her two Daughters and an Infant, 
July 18th, 1556. 



PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION. 25 

Lent, wherein he dwelt upon the justification by faith, he so 
offended the legal preachers of the day, that he was summoned 
before the king at Westminster, and there accused of heresy. 

It was urged against him, that he had insisted, according to 
St. Paul, in Galatians iv, " That the children of Sara (allego- 
rically used for the children of the promise) were all born free, 
and, independent of baptism, or of penance, were, through faith, 
made heirs of God." A Dr. Wilson argued against him, and 
strongly opposed this doctrine. But Jerome defended it with all 
the force of truth, and said, " That although good works were 
the means of salvation, yet they followed as a consequence of 
faith, whose fruits they were, and which discovered their root, 
even as good fruits prove a good tree." 

Notwithstanding his arguments, so inveterate were his ene- 
mies, and so deluded was the king, that he was committed to 
the Tower, in company with the other two soldiers of Christ, 
Barnes and Garret. 

Here they remained, w T hile a process ensued against them by 
the king's council in parliament, by whom, without any hearing, 
or knowledge of their fate, they were attainted of heresy, and 
sentenced to be burned. On the 30th of the following June, 
therefore, they were brought from the Tower to Smithfield, where, 
before they were committed to the fire, they addressed the people, 

" I am come hither," said Dr. Barnes, " to be burned as a 
heretic, and you shall hear my belief, whereby you may perceive 
what erroneous opinions I hold. God I take to record, I never 
(to my knowledge) taught any erroneous doctrine, but only those 
things which scripture led me unto ; neither in my sermons 
have I ever maintained or given occasion for any insurrection ; 
but with all diligence evermore did I study to set forth the glory 
of God, the obedience to our sovereign lord the king, and the 
true and sincere religion of Christ." 

He then begged all men to forgive him ; to bear witness that 
he detested and abhorred all evil opinions and doctrines against 
the word of God, and that he died in the faith of Jesus Christ, 
by whom he doubted not but to be saved. With these words, 
he desired all the spectators to pray for him, and then he pre- 
pared himself to suffer. 

Jerome and Garret professed in like manner their belief, 
reciting all the articles of the Christian faith, briefly declaring 
their minds upon every article, as the time would suffer, whereby 
the people might understand that there was no cause nor error 
in their faith for which they could justly be condemned ; pro- 
testing, moreover, that they denied nothing that was either in 

3 



26 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

the Old or New Testament, set forth by the king, whom they 
prayed the Lord long to continue amongst them, with his son 
prince Edward. 

The three martyrs then took each other by the hand, and, 
after embracing, submitted themselves to the tormentors, who, 
fastening them to the stake, soon lighted the fagots, and ter- 
minated their rnortal life and care. 

About this time also suffered Thomas Bernard and James 
Merton. The offence of Bernard was the teaching the Lord's 
prayer in English ; that of Merton, his keeping an English 
translation of the epistle of St. James. They were taken up at 
the instigation of Longland, bishop of Lincoln, condemned, and 
burned. 

The king was greatly delighted with the charms of Catharine 
Howard, his fifth wife, and even gave public thanks to God for 
the excellent choice he had made. But his opinion was soon 
altered, and not without reason ; for she was convicted, on the 
clearest evidence, and by her own confession, of gross lewdness 
and debauchery with several persons ; and was beheaded, with 
lady Rochford, her principal accomplice and confidant, February 
14th, 1541. The latter, it will be recollected, was the chief 
instrument in the destruction of Anne Boleyn, and her fate was 
considered as a divine judgment on her baseness and falsehood 
to that injured queen. 

The king, after remaining a widower about two years, con- 
tracted a sixth marriage, with Catharine Parr, widow of lord 
Latimer. 

The chief thing now aimed at, by the whole popish party, 
was Cranmer's ruin. Gardiner employed many to infuse the 
belief into the king, that he gave the chief encouragement to 
heresy in England, and that it was in vain to lop off the branch- 
es, and leave the root still growing. The king, before this, 
would never hear the complaints that were made of him ; but 
now, to be informed of the depth of this design, he was willing 
to make himself acquainted with all that was to be said against 
him. 

Cranmer avowed that he was still pf the same mind as when 
he opposed the six articles, and submitted himself to a trial ; he 
confessed many things to the king ; in particular, that he had a 
wife ; but he said he had sent her out of England, when the 
act of the six articles was passed ; and expressed so great a sin- 
cerity, and put so entire a confidence in the king, that, instead 
of being ruined, he was now better established with him than 



pko(tHV:ss of the reformation. 2? 

The king commanded him to appoint some persons to exam- 
ine the contrivance that Had been laid to destroy him ; he an- 
swered, that it was not decent for him to nominate any to judge 
in a cause in which himself Was concerned ; but the king being 
positive, he named some to go about it, and the whole secret was 
discovered. It appeared that Gardiner and Dr. London had 
been the chief instruments, and had encouraged informers to 
appear against him; Cranmer did not press the king for any 
reparation ; for he was so noted for his readiness to forgive 
injuries, and to return good for evil, that it was commonly said, 
the best way to obtain his favor, was to do him an injury ; of 
this he gave signal instances at this time, both in relation to the 
clergy and laity ; by which it appeared that he was actuated by 
that meek and lowly spirit, which becomes all the followers of 
Christ, but more particularly one who was so great ah instru* 
ment in reforming the Christian religion; and did, by such 
eminent acts of charity, show that he himself practised that 
which he taught others to do. 

The next English martyrs who stand upon record, are Kerby 
and Clarke. These men were apprehended at Ipswich, and 
committed to the care of the jailer there, named Bird, a very 
humane man. While they were in custody, Kerby was visited 
by Mr. Robert Wingfield, and a Mr. Bruess. Wingfield said 
to him, " Bemember the fire is hot, take heed of thine enter- 
prise, that thou take no more upon thee than thou shalt be able 
to perform. The terror is great, the pain will be extreme, and 
life is sweet. Better it were betime to stick to mercy, while 
there is hope of life, than rashly to begin, and then to shrink." 

Kerby answered, " Ah, Mr. Wingfield, be at my burning, and 

fou shall say, there standeth a Christian soldier in the fire : for 
know that fire and water, sword, and all other things, are in 
the hands of God, and he will suffer no more to be laid upon us 
than he will give strength to bear." — " Ah, Kerby," replied Mr. 
Wingfield, " if thou be at that point, I will bid thee farewell : 
for I promise thee I am not so strong that I am able to burn." 
And so both the gentlemen, saying that they would pray for 
him, shook hands with him and departed. 

When Kerby and Clarke were brought up for examination, 
before lord Wentworth and the other commissioners, they lifted 
up their eyes and hands to heaven, with great devotion, making 
their prayers secretly to God. 

The articles of accusation were then read to them, and it was 
demanded of them "whether they believed, that after the 
words spoken by a priest, as Christ spake them to his apostles, 



28 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

the bread and wine were not the very body and blood of Christ, 
flesh, blood, and bone, as he was born of the virgin Mary, and 
no bread after." 

To which they answered, " No, they did not so believe, but 
that they believed the sacrament which Christ Jesus instituted 
at his last supper to his disciples, was only to put men in re- 
membrance of his precious death, and blood-shedding for the 
remission of sins ; and that there Was neither flesh nor blood to 
be eaten with the teeth, but bread and wine, and yet more than 
bread and wine, for that it is consecrated to a holy use." 

Then many persuasions and threats were used to induce 
them to abjure ; but they both continued faithful and constant, 
choosing rather to die than to live, if life were to be purchased 
by professing what they could not believe to be true. 

Sentence was then passed upon them ; Kerby to be burnt in 
Ipswich on the next Saturday, and Clarke to be burned at Bury 
oil the Monday after. 

The prisoners were then led to their destinations ; Kerby to 
prison at Ipswich, and Clarke to Bury, St. Edmund's. On 
quitting the court, the latter exclaimed aloud, " Fight for your 
God, for he hath not long to continue." 

On the following Saturday, about ten o'clock, Kerby was 
brought to the market-place, where a stake was ready, with 
wood, straw, &c. He was then fastened to the stake with irons, 
lord Wentworth, with many other noblemen and gentlemen of 
the neighborhood, being in the gallery, where they might see 
his execution, and hear what he might say. In the gallery also 
stood Dr. Rugham, formerly a monk of Bury. 

Silence being proclaimed, the doctor began to speak to the 
assembly, and in his discourse, as often as he quoted the scrip- 
tures, and applied them rightly, Kerby told the people that he 
was right, and bade them believe him. But when he did other- 
wise, he told him again, " You say not true ; believe him not, 
good people." When the doctor had ended, he said to Kerby, 
" Thou, good man, dost not thou believe that the blessed sacra- 
ment of the altar is the very flesh and blood of Christ, and no 
bread, even as he was born of the virgin Mary ?" Kerby an- 
swering boldly, said, " 1 do not so believe." " How dost thou 
believe ?" asked the doctor. Kerby answered, " I believe that 
in the sacrament that Jesus Christ instituted at his last supper 
to his disciples (which ought of us likewise to be done) is his 
death and passion, and his blood-shedding for the redemption of 
the world, to be remembered ; and, as I said before, yet bread, 
and more than bread, for that it is consecrated to a holy use." 
After this the doctor said no more to Kerby. 



PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION. 29 

Then the under-sheriff demanded of Kerby whether he had 
any thing more to say ? " Yea, sir," said he, " if you will give 
me leave." " Say on, then," said the sheriff. 

Then Kerby, taking his cap from his head, cast it from him, 
and lifting up his hands, repeated the hymn Te Deum, and the 
Apostles' creed, with other prayers in the English tongue. 
Lord Wentworth, while Kerby was thus doing, concealed him- 
self behind one of the posts of the gallery, and wept, and so did 
many others. " Now," said Kerby, " I have done : you may 
execute your office, good sheriff." On this, fire was set to the 
wood, and with a loud voice the holy martyr commended his 
soul to his heavenly Father ; striking his breast, and holding up 
his hands,' as long as his senses remained. 

On the following Monday, about ten o'clock, Roger Clarke 
was brought out of prison, and led on foot to the gate called 
Southgate, in Bury. By the way he met the procession of the 
host, but he went on, and would not bow, or kneel, but vehe- 
mently rebuked that idolatry and superstition. 

Kis sufferings were dreadful, for the wood was green, and 
would not burn, so that he was choked with smoke : and more- 
over, being set in a pitch-barrel, with some pitch sticking still 
by the sides, he was thereby much pained, till he got his feet 
out of the barrel. At length a person standing by took a fagot, 
and striking at the ring of iron about his neck, and then upon 
his head, he fell down on one side into the fire, and so was de- 
stroyed. 

This year it was ordained by proclamation, in the name of 
the king and his council, that the English form 6f prayer, as 
ordained by the said council, should be used throughout all 
England, and none other. 

In the month of November, the king summoned his parlia- 
ment. Early in the session they granted to him, besides sub- 
sidies of money, " all colleges, chantries, free chapels, hospitals, 
fraternities, brotherhoods, guilds, and perpetuities of stipendiary 
priests, to be disposed of at his will and pleasure." Where- 
upon, shortly after, he came to the parliament-house to give his 
assent to such acts as were there passed : where, after an elo- 
quent oration made to him by the speaker, he answered, not by 
the lord chancellor, as the usual manner was, but by himself. 

He first declared his gratitude to his subjects for their grants 
and subsidies to him ; and then, with much apparent earnest- 
ness, exhorted them to concord, peace, and unity. But while 
he recommended charity by his speeches, his conduct showed 
that he was incapable of exercising it towards those who differ- 
3* 



30 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

ed from him ; and the case of Anne Askew will prove, that his 
own disposition was not altered, whatever his professions might 
be. 

This lady was descended from a good family, and had re- 
ceived an accomplished education : she had embraced the doc- 
trines of the reformers with zeal, and was taken into custody 
for her opinions, in March, 1545. She underwent several ex- 
aminations touching the points of difference between the Papists 
and the Protestants ; in which she answered the insidious ques- 
tions of her examiners with boldness and discretion. 

On the day appointed for her execution, she was brought to 
Smithfield in a chair, being unable to walk, from the effects of 
the tortures which she had undergone. When she arrived at 
the stake, she was fastened to it by a chain round her body. 
Three other persons were brought to suffer with her, for the 
same offence. These were, Nicholas Belenian, a priest of 
Shropshire ; John Adams, a tailor ; and John Lacels, a gentle- 
man of the king's household. 

The martyrs being all chained to the stake, Dr. Shaxton, who 
was appointed to preach, began his sermon ; and as he pro- 
ceeded, Anne Askew, with undiminished spirit, either confirmed 
or contradicted him, according to the truth or falsehood of his 
quotations and inferences. 

The sermon being concluded, the martyrs began their prayers. 
The concourse of spectators was immense, and on a bench near 
the stake sat the lord chancellor, the duke of Norfolk, the earl 
of Bedford, the lord mayor, and other persons of consideration. 
The chancellor sent to Anne Askew letters, offering to her the 
king's pardon if she would recant ; but she, refusing even to 
look upon them, made this answer, " That she came not thither 
to deny her Lord and Master." Then the letters were likewise 
offered to the others, who, imitating the constancy of the woman, 
refused not only to receive them, but also to look upon them, 
and continued to cheer and exhort each other to be firm to the 
end of their sufferings, and so to deserve the glory they were 
about to enter; whereupon the lord mayor, commanding fire to 
be put to them, cried, with a loud voice, " fiat justitia." 

And thus these blessed martyrs were compassed in with 
flames of fire, and offered up as sacrifices unto God. 

These events were so many triumphs to the popish party, 
who, stimulated by fresh hopes, sought to complete their victory 
by effecting the ruin of Cranmer and tKe queen, whom they 
considered the greatest obstacles to their success. They per- 
suaded the king that Cranmer was the source of all the heresies 



PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION. 31 

in England ; but Henry's esteem for him was such, that no one 
would appear to give evidence against him ; they therefore 
desired that he might be committed to the Tower, and then it 
would appear how many would inform against him. 

The king seemed to approve this plan, and they resolved to 
execute it the next day ; but in the night Henry sent for Cranmer, 
and told him what was resolved concerning him. Cranmer 
thanked the king for giving him notice of it, and submitted to it, 
only desiring that he might be heard in answer for himself; 
and that he m%ht have impartial judges, competent to decide. 
Henry was surprised to see him so little concerned in his own 
preservation ; but told him, since he took so little care of himself, 
that he must take care of him. He therefore gave him instruc- 
tions to appear before the council, and to desire to see his accu- 
sers before he should be sent to the Tower ; and that he might be 
used by them, as they would desire to be used in a similar 
case ; and, if he could not prevail by the force of reason, then 
he was to appeal to the king in person, and was to show the 
royal seal ring, which he took from his finger, and gave him, 
which they would know so well, that they would do nothing 
after they once saw it. 

Accordingly, on being summoned next morning, he came 
over to Whitehall; there he was detained, with great insolence, 
in the lobby of the council-chamber, before he was called in ; 
but when that was done, and he had acted as the king had 
ordered him, and at last showed the ring, his enemies rose in 
great confusion, and went to the king. He upbraided them 
severely for what they had done, and expressed his esteem and 
kindness for Cranmer, in such terms, that they were glad to get 
off, by pretending that they had no other design but that of 
having his innocence declared by a public trial. From this 
vain attempt they were so convinced of the king's unalterable 
favor to him, that they forbore any further designs against him. 

The king's distemper had been long growing upon him. He 
was become so corpulent, that he could not go up and down 
stairs, but was let down and drawn up by an engine, when he 
intended to walk in his garden. He had an ulceration in his 
leg, which gave him much pain, the humors of his body dis- 
charging themselves that way, till at last a dropsy came on. 
He had grown so fierce and cruel, that those about him were 
afraid to let him know that his death seemed near, lest they 
might have been adjudged guilty of treason, in foretelling his 
death ! 

On the 27th of January, 1547, his spirits sunk, and it was 



S2 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS'* 

"evident that he had not long to live. Sir Anthony Denny took 
the courage to tell him that death was approaching, and desired 
him to call on God for his mercy. He expressed in general his 
sorrow for his past sins, and his trust in the mercies of God in 
Christ Jesus. He ordered Cranmer to be sent for, but was 
speechless before he arrived ; yet he gave a sign that he under- 
stood what he said to him, and soon after died, in the fifty-sixth 
year of his age, after he had reigned thirty-seven years and nine 
months. 

The severities Henry used against many of his subjects, in 
matters of religion, made both sides write with great sharpness 
against him ; his temper was imperious and cruel ; he was 
sudden and violent in his passions, and hesitated at nothing- by 
which he could gratify either his lust or his revenge. This 
was much provoked by the sentence of the pope against him, by 
the virulent books cardinal Pole and others published, by the 
rebellions that were raised in England by the popish clergy, and 
the apprehensions he' was in of the emperor's greatness, together 
with his knowledge of the fate of those princes against whotri 
the popes had thundered iri former times; all which made him 
think it necessary to keep his people 5 under the terror of a severe 
government; and by some rMiblie examples to secure the peace 
of the nation, and thereby to prevent a more profuse effusion of 
blood, which might have otherwise followed, if he had been 
more gentle ; and it was no wonder, if, after the pope deposed 
nim, he proceeded to great severities against all who supported 
the papal authority. 

Almost the last act of his life was one of barbarous ingratitude 
and monstrous tyranny. This was the execution of the earl of 
Surrey, a brave and accomplished nobleman, who had serv f ed 
him with zeal and fidelity, but was now sacrificed to the ground- 
less suspicions of this gloomy tyrant, on the pretence of his hav- 
ing assumed the arms of Edward the Confessor, which, from 
his being related to the royal family, he had a right to do, and 
which he had done, during many years, without offence. Not 
satisfied with the death of this nobleman, the bloodthirsty despot, 
now tottering on the brink of the grave, determined to complete 
his worse than savage barbarity, by bringing to the block the 
aged duke of Norfolk, father of his former victim, who had 
spent a long life, and expended a princely fortune, in his ser- 
vice. There being no charge on which to found an impeach- 
ment against him, a parliament was summoned to attaint him ; 
and so well did these servile wretches fulfil their inhuman mas- 
ter's expectations, that the bill of attainder was passed in both 



PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION. 33, 

houses in the short space of seven days ; and the royal assent 
being given by commission, January 27, the duke was ordered 
for execution on the next morning ; but in the course of the 
night, the king was himself summoned before the tribunal of 
the eternal Judge. 

Beside the martyrdoms which we have already recorded, 
there are some others which have not been placed in their 
chronological order. We therefore insert them here, which 
will complete this important period of church history. 

John Bent and Trapnel suffered shortly after the mar- 
tyrdom of Thomas Bilney, of which we have already given an 
account. The particulars of their examinations and trials are 
not extant ; but, having sealed their profession by their death, 
their names ought to be held in remembrance among those of 
their brethren. Bent was a tailor in the village of Urchevant, 
and was burned in the town of Devizes, in the county of Wilt- 
shire. Trapnel suffered the same fate at Bradford in the same 
county. Their offence consisted in having denied the doctrine 
of transubstantiation. 

In the year 1532, there was an idol called the Rood of Dover 
court, to which great numbers of people constantly resorted. 
For at that time there was a firm belief amongst the ignorant 
multitude, that the pewer of this idol was so great, that no man 
could shut the door of the church where it stood, and therefore 
the priests let it continually stand open, to obtain the more credit 
to their false report. 

This belief, being conceived in the heads of the rabble, seemed 
a great miracle unto many ; but by others, whom God had 
blessed with his spirit, was greatly suspected, especially by these, 
whose names here follow : Robert King of Dedham, Robert 
Debnam of Eastbergholt, Nicholas Marsh of Dedham, and 
Robert Gardiner of Dedham, who were much grieved to see the 
honor and power of the Almighty God so blasphemed. Where- 
fore they were moved by the spirit of God to travel out of Ded- 
ham in a night suitable for their purpose, it being a hard frost, 
and moonlight. It was from the town of Dedham, to the place 
where the Rood stood, ten miles. Notwithstanding, they were 
so earnest in their enterprise, that they went these ten miles 
cheerfully, and found the church-door open, according to custom. 
This happened well for their purpose ; for it gave them an 
opportunity of easily approaching the idol ; which had as much 
power to keep the door shut as to keep it open. They took this 
helpless god from his shrine, and carried him a quarter of a 
mile from the place where he stood ; then they struck fire with 



HA SUFFERINGS OF EAKtY ckMhf&AMi 

k flint-stone, and suddenly setting him in a blaze, walked hom<* 
by the light of it. 

A great clamor was immediately raised by the priests of this 
injured wooden deity ; and three of the destroyers of the idol 
were indicted of felony, and hariged in chain's m a short time 
after. Robert King was hanged in Dedham ; Debridrri at Cata- 
way causeway ; Nicholas Marsh at Dover court. 

Robert Gardiner escaped by flight, and although great search 
was made after him, the living Lord preserved him. 

Thomas Benet was born in Cambridge ; became M. A. there ; 
and (as" Some think) was also a priest ; he was a very learnedl 
man, and of a godly dispositiori, being intimately Acquainted 
with Thomas Bilney, the glorious martyr of Christ. The more 
lie grew and increased in the knowledge of God and his holy 
work, the more he disliked the corrupt state of religion then 
prevalent ; and therefore being desirous to live in more freedom 
6f conscience, he quitted the university, and went into Devonshire, 
in the year 1524, and resided in Torrington, a market-towns, 
where, far the maintenance of himself and his wife, he kept a* 
school. But that town not answering his expectation, after 
remaining there one year, he went to Exeter, and resumed his 
teaching. He was of a quiet behavior, of a godly conversation, 
and of a very courteous nature, humble to all men, and giving 
olle>ce to none. His greatest delight was to attend sermons' 
and preachings, whereof he was a diligent and attentive hearer, 
and he devoted all his leisure to the study of the scriptures, and 
the company of such as he found to be' favorers of the gospel. 

Speaking privately with his friends, he plainly told them how 
blasphemously and abominably God was dishonored, his word 
contemned, and the people, by blind guides, carried headlong W 
evci lusting damnation : arid therefore, he said, " he could nd 
longer endure, but must needs, and would utter their abomina- 
tions ; and for his own part, for the testimony of his conscience, 
and for the defence of God's true religion, would yield himself 
most patiently (as near as God would give him grace) to die 
and to shed his blood therein ; alleging that his death should 
be more profitable to the church of God, and for the edifying 
of his people, than his life should be." 

To these persuasions his friends at length yielded, and promis- 
ed to pray to God for him, that he might be made strong in the 
cause, and continue a faithful soldier to the end. He then gave 
directions for the distribution of such books as he had ; and 
shortly after, in the month of October, he wrote his mind on 
£ome scrolls of paper; which in the night he affixed upon the 



PROQRESS OF THE REFORMATION. 8§ 

doors of the cathedral church of the city ; on these papers was. 
written, " The pope is Antichrist, and we ought to worship God 
only, and no saints." 

The priests, being unable to discover the perpetrator of this 
horrible deed, at length determined, to make his damnation 
sure, to curse him, whoever he might be ; which was accord- 
ingly performed, with much mummery; and as the whole pro? 
ceeding affords a just view of the piety, charity, and mercy of 
the Romish church, we give it here, for the edification of our 
readers. 

One of the priests, appareled all in white, ascended into the 
pulpit. The rabble, with some of the two orders of friars and 
monks, standing round about, and the cross being holden up 
with holy candles of wax fixed to the same, he began his sermon 
with this text from the book of Joshua ; Est blasphemia in cas- 
tris : "there is blasphemy in the camp:" and after making a 
long, tedious, and superstitious preachment, concluded, that 
•*' that foul and abominable heretic which had put up such blas- 
phemous bills, was for that his blasphemy damnably cursed ; 
and besought God, our lady, St. Petey, patron of that church, 
with all the holy company of martyrs, confessors, and virgins, 
ihat it might be known what heretic had put up such blasphe- 
mous bills. v Then followed the curse, uttered by the priest in 
these words : 

" By the authority of God the Father Almighty, and of the 
blessed virgin Mary, of St. Peter and Paul, and of the holy 
saints, we excommunicate, w T e utterly curse and ban, commit 
and deliver to the devil of hell, him or her, whatsoever he or 
she be, that have, in spite of God and of St. Peter, whose church 
this is, in spite of all holy saints, and in spite of our most holy 
father the pope, God's vicar here on earth, and in spite of the 
reverend father in God, John our diocesan, and the worshipful 
canons, masters, and priests, and clerks, which serve God 
daily in this cathedral church, fixed up with wax such cursed 
and heretical bills full of blasphemy, upon the doors of this 
and other holy churches within this city. Excommunicate 
plainly be he or she plenally, or they, and delivered over 
to the devil, as perpetual malefactors and schismatics. Ac- 
cursed might they be, and given body and soul to the devil. 
Cursed be they, he or she, in cities and towns, in fields, in ways, 
in paths, in houses, out of houses, and in all other places, stand- 
ing, lying, or rising, walking, running, waking, sleeping, eating, 
drinking, and whatsoever thing they do besides. We separate 
them, him or her, from the threshold, and from all the good 



36 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

prayers of the church, from the participation of the holy mass, 
from all sacraments, chapels, and altars, from holy bread, and 
holy water, from all the merits of God's priests, and religious 
men, and from all their cloisters, from all their pardons, privile- 
ges, grants, and immunities, which all the holy fathers, popes 
of Kome, have granted to them : and we give them over utterly 
to the power of the fiend ; and let us quench their souls, if they 
be dead, this night in the pains of hell fire, as this candle is 
now quenched and put out" — (and with that he put out one of 
the candles :) — " and let us pray to God (if they be alive) that 
their eyes may be put out, as this candlelight is" — (he then put 
out the other candle :) " and let us pray to God, and to our lady, 
and to St. Peter and Paul, and all holy saints, that all the sen- 
ses of their bodies may fail them, and that they may have no 
feeling, as now the light of this candle is gone" — (he put out 
the third candle) — " except they, he or she, come openly now 
and confess their blasphemy, and by repentance (as in them 
shall lie) make satisfaction unto God, our lady, St. Peter, and 
the worshipful company of this cathedral church; and as this 
holy cross staff now falleth down, so might they, except they 
repent, and show themselves." Then, the cross being first 
taken away, the staff fell down. And the ignorant people were 
almost petrified with fear, at hearing this terrible denunciation. 

Now this foolish fantansy and mockery being ended, which 
was to a Christian heart utterly ridiculous, Benet could no 
longer restrain his laughter ; upon which, those who were next 
to him, in great surprise, asked him, " For what cause he should 
so laugh ?" — " My friends," said he, " who can forbear, seeing 
such merry conceits and interludes ?" Immediately there was 
a cry, " Here is the heretic, here is the heretic ! hold him fast, 
hold him fast, hold him fast !" He was accordingly seized ; 
but his enemies, being uncertain of him, released him, and left 
him to go home to his house. 

However, being still more disgusted by the scene he had just 
witnessed, he renewed his former bills, and caused his boy, 
early in the following morning, to replace them upon the gates 
of the church-yard. As the boy was doing this, he was seen 
by a person going to early mass, who asked him " whose boy 
he was," charging him as the heretic who had set up the bills 
upon the gates ; wherefore, pulling down the bill, he brought it, 
together with the boy, before the mayor ; and thereupon Benet, 
being known and taken, was committed to prison. 

The next day he was sent to the bishop, who committed him 
to prison, where he was kept in stocks and strong irons, Then 



PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION. 37 

the bishop, with Dr. Brewer, his chancellor, and others of his 
clergy and friars, began to examine him, and charge him, that, 
contrary to the Catholic faith, he denied praying to saints, and 
the supremacy of the pope. To whom he answered in so cor- 
rect a manner, and so learnedly proved and defended his asser- 
tions, that he not only confounded and put to silence his adver- 
saries, but also filled them with great admiration of his abilities, 
and pity and compassion for his situation. The friars took 
great pains with him to persuade him to recant and acknow- 
ledge his fault, concerning the bills ; but it was in vain, for 
God had appointed him to be a witness of his holy name. 

His house was then searched for books and papers ; and his 
wife was much ill-treated by the officers employed; but she 
being, like her husband, a member of Christ's true church, bore 
all their insults patiently, and " when they reviled her, answer- 
ed them not again." 

Benet was now, during eight days, constantly beset by priests 
and friars, who tried all arts to induce him to be " reconciled'' 
with the church of Rome ; but all their efforts were vain ; he 
remained firm in the faith, and would not relinquish the cross 
which he had taken up. 

His enemies, at length, finding both their threats and their 
persuasions equally useless, proceeded to judgment, and con- 
demned him to the names ; which being done, and the writ 
which they had procured being brought from London, they 
delivered him, on the 15th of January, 1531, to Sir Thomas 
Dennis, keight, then sheriff of Devonshire, to be burned. 

The holy martyr, rejoicing that his end approached so near, 
yielded himself, with all humbleness, to abide and suffer the 
cross of persecution. And being brought to the place of execu- 
tion, near Exeter, he made his humble confession and prayer 
unto Almighty God, and requested all the people present to 
pray for him ; exhorting them, at the same time, with such 
gravity and sobriety, and with such force of language, to seek 
the true knowledge and honor of God, and to leave the vain 
imaginations of man's invention, that all the hearers were 
astonished, and in great admiration ; and most of them con- 
fessed that he was God's servant, and a good man. 

Nevertheless, two gentlemen, named Thomas Carew and 
John Barnehouse, standing at the stake by him, first with pro- 
mises and fair words, but at length with threatenings, urged 
him to revoke his errors, to call to our lady and the saints, and 
to say, " Precor sanctam Mariam, et omnes sanctos Dei" &c. 
To whom he, with all meekness, answered, saying, " No, no ; 
4 



38 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

it is God only upon whose name we must call, and we have no 
other advocate to him but Jesus Christ, who died for us, and 
now sitteth at the right hand of the Father to be an advocate for 
us, and by him must we offer and make our prayers to God, if 
we will have them to take place and be heard." With which 
answer Barnehouse was so enraged, that he took a furze bush 
upon a pike, and setting it on fire, thrust it into his face, saying, 
" Heretic ! pray to our lady, and say, Sancta Maria, ora pro 
nobis, or by God's wounds I will make thee do it." 

To whom the martyr meekly and patiently answered, " Alas, 
sir, trouble me not ;" and holding up his hands, he said, " Pa- 
ter ignosce illis" Whereupon the persecutors caused the wood 
and furze to be set on fire, and Benet, lifting up his eyes and 
hands to heaven, cried out, " O Domine, recipe spiritum meum ;" 
and so continued in his prayers, until his life was ended. 

About the year 1539, John, a painter, and Giles German, 
were accused of heresy ; and whilst they were in examination 
at London before the bishops and other judges, by chance there 
came in one of the king's servants, named Launcelot, a very 
tall man, and of a godly mind and disposition. 

This man standing by, seemed, by his countenance and ges- 
tures, to favor both the cause and the poor prisoners, who were 
his friends. Whereupon, he being apprehended, was examined 
and condemned together with them; and the next day, at five 
o'clock in the morning, all three were carried together to St. 
Giles's in the Fields, and there burned; there being but a^small 
number of people present at their death. 

Among other blessed saints and martyrs of Christ, who inno- 
cently suffered, and were burned in Smithfield about the latter 
end of Cuthbert Tonstall's time, (bishop of London,) was one 
called Stile. With him there was burned also a book of the 
Apocalypse, which he was known frequently to read. When 
he saw this book fastened to the stake to be burned with him, 
lifting up his voice, " O blessed Apocalypse," he cried, " how 
happy am I that I shall be burned with thee !" And so this 
good man and the blessed Apocalypse were both together con- 
sumed in the fire. 

Even so early as the second year of Henry VIII. 's reign,. one 
John Brown was burned at Ashford, in Kent, by order of 
archbishop Warham, on the following grounds. Passing down 
to Gravesend in the common barge, a priest was amongst other 
passengers, who, disdaining that Brown should sit so near him 
in the barge, asked him, with a loud voice and disdainful coun- 
tenance, " Dost thou know who I am ? Thou sittest too near 



I 



PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION. 39 

me, and sittest on my clothes." — " No, sir," said Brown, " I 
know not what you are." — " I tell thee," quoth he, " I am a 
priest." — " What, sir, are you a parson, or vicar, or some lady's 
chaplain ?" — " No, I am a soul priest, I sing for a soul." — " Do 
you so, sir ?" cried Brown, " that is well done ; I pray you, 
sir, where find you the soul when you go to mass ?" — " I cannot 
tell thee," said the priest. — " I pray you, where do you leave it, 
sir, when the mass is done ?" — " I cannot tell thee," replied the 
priest. — " You cannot tell where to find it when you go to mass, 
nor where you leave it when the mass is done ? — how can you 
then save the soul ?" asked Brown. — " Go thy ways," said the 
priest, unable to answer him : " I perceive thou art a heretic, 
and I will be even with thee." 

On landing, the priest rode straight to archbishop Warham ; 
and John Brown, within three days after, was sent for by the 
archbishop. The messengers who were sent for him , came 
suddenly into his house ; and laying hands upon him they set 
him upon his own horse, and binding his feet under the belly 
of the beast, carried him away to Canterbury, (neither he, nor 
his wife, nor any of his friends, knowing whither he was going,) 
and there confined him for forty days. The archbishop rinding 
him, on examination, to be a friend to the doctrines of those 
who preached pure Christianity, in opposition to popery and 
priestcraft, caused his bare feet to be set upon hot burning coals, 
to make him deny his faith ; which however he would not do, 
but patiently abiding the pain, continued unshaken in his pro- 
fession. At length, after this cruelty, he was, on the Friday 
before Whit-sunday, sent to Ashford, (where his wife still 
dwelt,) with orders that he should be burned the next day. 

His wife, who was hitherto ignorant of all that had happened 
to him, being now informed of his coming, hastened to him, and 
finding him in the stocks, and appointed to be burned the next 
morning, sat by him all night long. To her he then declared 
how he had been treated, and how his feet were burned to the 
bones by the archbishop of Canterbury and bishop of Roches- 
ter, " and all to make me," said he, " to deny my Lord, which 
I will never do ; for should I deny him in this world, he would 
deny me hereafter. And, therefore, I pray thee, good Elizabeth, 
continue as thou hast begun, and bring up thy children virtu- 
ously in the fear of God." 

On the next day, being Whitsun-eve, this godly martyr was 
burned, according to his sentence ; and, standing at the stake, 
he uttered this prayer, holding up his hands : 



40 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

I yield, O Lord, unto thy grace, 
O, let thy mercy crown my race. 
Let not the fiend my soul pursue, 
When death is near and just in view ; 
But while by envious foes I 'm driven, 
Save me from hell, and give me heaven. 



CHAPTER II. 

Persecutions in Scotland, during the Fifteenth and part of the 
Sixteenth Century. 

Having brought our account of the sufferings and martyrdoms 
of the English reformers down to the death of Henry the Eighth, 
we shall now proceed to relate the cruel persecutions of God's 
faithful servants in Scotland, to the same period ; but it will 
previously be necessary to give a short sketch of the progress 
of the reformation in that country. 

The long alliance between Scotland and France had render- 
ed the two nations extremely attached to each other ; and Paris 
was the place where the learned of Scotland had their educa- 
tion. Yet, early in the fifteenth century, learning was more 
encouraged in Scotland, and universities were founded in seve- 
ral episcopal sees. About the same time some of Wickliffe's 
followers began to show themselves in Scotland ; and an Eng- 
lishman, named Resby, was burnt in 1407 for teaching some 
opinions contrary to the pope's authority. 

Some years after that, Paul Craw, a Bohemian, who had 
been converted by Huss, was burnt for infusing the opinions of 
that martyr into some persons at St. Andrew's. 

About the end of the fifteenth century, Lollardy, as it was 
then called, spread itself into many parts of the diocese of Glas- 
gow, for which several persons of » quality were accused ; but 
they answered the archbishop of that see with so much boldness 
and truth, that he dismissed them, having admonished them to 
content themselves with the faith of the church, and to beware 
of new doctrines. 

The same spirit of ignorance, immorality, and superstition, 
had overrun the church of Scotland, that was so much complained 
of in other parts of Europe. The total neglect of the pastoral 
care, and the scandalous lives of the clergy, filled the people 
with such prejudices against them, that they were easily dispos- 






PERSECUTIONS IN SCOTLAND. 41 

fed to hearken to new preachers, among the most conspicuous 
of whom was Patrick Hamilton. 

This noble martyr was nephew, by his father, to the earl of 
Arran, and by his mother to the duke of Albany. He was edu- 
cated for the church, and highly preferred, having an abbey 
given him for prosecuting his studies. 

After preaching some time, and holding up the truth to his 
deluded countrymen, he was at length invited to St. Andrew's, 
to confer upon the points in question. But his enemies could 
not stand the light, and finding they could not defend themselves 
by argument, resolved upon revenge. Hamilton was accord- 
ingly imprisoned. Articles were exhibited against him, in 
which he was charged with having denied free-will ; advocated 
justification by faith alone ; and declared that faith, hope, and 
charity, are so linked together, that one cannot exist in the 
breast without the other. 

Upon his refusing to abjure these doctrines, Beaton, arch- 
bishop of St* Andrew's, with the archbishop of Glasgow, three 
bishops, and five abbots, condemned him as an obstinate heretic* 
delivered him to the secular power, and ordered his execution 
lo take place that very afternoon ; for the king had gone in 
pilgrimage to Ross, and they were afraid, lest, upon his return, 
Hamilton's friends might have interceded effectually for him. 
When he was tied to the stake, he expressed great joy in his 
sufferings, since by these he was to enter into everlasting life. 

A train of powder being fired, it did not kindle the fuel, but 
only burnt his face, which occasioned a delay till more powder 
was brought ; and in that time the friars continually urged him 
to recant, and pray to the Virgin ; saying the Salve Regina. 
Among the rest, a friar named Campbel, who had been often 
with him in prison, was very officious. Hamilton answered 
him, that he knew he was not a heretic, and had confessed it to 
him in private, and charged him to answer for that at the throne 
of Almighty God. # By this time the gunpowder was brought, 
and the fire being kindled, he died, repeating these words, 
" Lord Jesus, receive my spirit ! How long, O Lord ! how 
long shall darkness overwhelm this kingdom ? and how long 
wilt thou suffer the tyranny of these men ?" He suffered death 
in the year 1527. 

The views and doctrines of this glorious martyr were such 
as could not fail to excite the highest admiration of every real 

* A short time after this, Campbel became mad, and died within a 
year. 

4* 



42 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISl7AftS. 

believer; and they were expressed with such brevity, such 
clearness, and such peculiar vigor and beauty, (forming in them- 
selves a complete summary of the gospel,) that they afforded 
instruction to all who sought to know more of God* 

The force of the truths preached by Hamilton, the firmness 
of his death, and the singular catastrophe of friar Campbel, 
made strong impressions on the people ; and many received the 
new opinions. 

Within a few years after the martyrdom of Patrick Hamilton, 
Henry Forest, a young friar of Lithgow, said, that Hamilton 
died a martyr, and that the doctrines, for preaching which he 
suffered, were true. For this he was apprehended and commit- 
ted to prison by James Beaton, archbishop of St. Andrew's ; 
who, shortly after, caused a friar, named Walter Laing, to hear 
his confession. 

Henry Forest, in secret confession, declared on his conscience, 
that he thought Hamilton to be a good man, and wrongfully put 
to death, and that his doctrines were true, and not heretical ; 
upon which the friar came and related to the bishop the confes- 
sion which he had received. 

They then proceeded to degrade him of his friar's orders, 
and he said, with a loud voice, " Take from me not only your 
own orders, but also your own baptism ;" meaning thereby 
whatever had been added by papistry to that which Christ him* 
self instituted. Then, after his degradation, they condemned 
him " as a heretic equal with Patrick Hamilton :" and so he 
suffered death for his faithful testimony of the truth of Christ 
and his gospel, near the abbey church of St. Andrew. 

Several others were brought into the bishops' courts, of whom 
the greatest part abjured ; but two suffered in the year 1534* 
These were Norman Gourlay and David Stratton. 

Gourlay had said, that there was no such place as purgatory, 
and that the pope was not a bishop, but Antichrist, and had no 
jurisdiction in Scotland.— -David Stratton was a fisherman ; he 
also said there was no purgatory ; that the passion of Christ 
was the only expiation for sin, and that the tribulations of this 
world were the only sufferings that the saints underwent. 

These two, although greatly solicited by the archbishop and 
others of the clergy, refused to recant, and were, accordingly, 
condemned as obstinate heretics, and sentenced to be burned 
upon the green-side between Leith and Edinburgh, with a view 
to strike terror into the surrounding country. In the afternoon 
of the same day, they were taken to the place of execution ; 
and kneeling down, they prayed with great fervency for 



I 



PERSECUTIONS IN SCOTLAND. 43 

some time. Then Stratton, addressing himself to the spec- 
tators, exhorted them to lay aside their superstitious and 
idolatrous notions, and employ themselves in seeking the true 
light of the gospel. He wished to have said more, but was 
prevented by the officers. 

The sentence was then put into execution, and the martyrs 
cheerfully yielded up their bodies to the flames, commend- 
ing their souls to the mercy of their heavenly Father, and 
hoping for immortality, through the merits of their blessed 
Redeemer. 

Several others were accused, of whom some fled to England, 
and others to Germany. 

The changes made in England raised in all the people a 
wish to search into matters of religion, which was always fatal 
to superstition ; and pope Clement the Seventh, well aware that 
the papal religion would not bear investigation, wrote earnestly 
to the king of Scotland, to continue firm to the Catholic faith, 
resisting all attempts at innovation* Upon this, the king called 
a parliament, in which new laws Were made for maintaining the 
pope's authority, and proceeding against heretics. King Henry 
sent Barlow, bishop of St. David's, to James, with some books 
that were written in defence of his proceedings, and desired 
him to examine them impartially. He also proposed an inter- 
view at York, and a marriage between king James and lady 
Mary, his eldest daughter. James was not unwilling to listen 
to these proposals, but the clergy persuaded him to go in person 
to France, and court Magdalene, daughter of the French king. 
He accordingly gratified their wishes, and married her in Janu- 
ary, 1537 ; but she died in the following May. Upon her death, 
the king married Mary of Guise; she was a branch of the 
family that was most zealously addicted to the old superstition 
of any in all Europe ; and her interest, joined with that of the 
clergy, engaged the king to become a violent persecutor of all 
who were of another mind. 

Not long after the burning of Stratton and Gourlay, dean 
Thomas Forret was accused to the bishop of Dunkeld, as " a 
heretic, and one that showed the mysteries of the scriptures to 
the vulgar people, in their own language, to make the clergy 
detestable in their sight." 

A short time afterwards, he was summoned to appear be- 
fore cardinal Beaton, archbishop of St. Andrew's ; and, af- 
ter a short examination, he was condemned to be burnt as a 
heretic. A similar sentence was pronounced, at the same time, 
on four other persons, named Killor, Beverage, Simson, and 



44 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS* 

Foster ; and they were all burnt together on the castle hill* at 
Edinburgh, February 28, 1538* 

The year following the martyrdoms of the before-mentioned 
persons, viz. 1539, two others were apprehended on a suspicion 
of heresy; namely, Jerom Eussel, and Alexander Kennedy, a 
youth about eighteen years of age. 

These two persons, after being some time confined in prison* 
were brought before the archbishop for examination. Kennedy's 
tender years inclining him to pusillanimity, he would at first 
have recanted ; but being suddenly refreshed by divine inspira- 
tion, and feeling himself, as it were, a new creature, his mind 
was changed. 

The examination being over, and both of them declared here- 
tics, the archbishop pronounced the dreadful sentence of death* 
and they were immediately delivered over to the secular power 
for execution. When they arrived at the fatal spot, they both 
kneeled and prayed for some time ; after which, being fastened 
to the stake, and the fagots lighted, they cheerfully resigned 
their souls into the hands of him who gave them, in full hopes 
of an everlasting reward in the heavenly mansions* 

In 1543, the archbishop of St. Andrew's making a visitation 
into various parts of his diocese, several persons were accused 
at Perth of heresy. Among these the six following were con- 
demned to die : William Anderson, Robert Lamb, James Fin- 
layson, James Hunter, James Raveleson, and Helen Stark. 
The accusations laid against them were to the following effect : 

The four first were accused of having hung up the image of 
St. Francis, nailing ram's horns on his head, and fastening a 
cow's tail to his rump ; but the principal matter on which they 
were condemned was having regaled themselves with a goose 
on Allhallow's eve, a fast day according to the Romish super- 
stition. 

James Raveleson was accused of having ornamented his 
house with the three-crowned diadem of Peter carved in wood, 
which the archbishop conceived to be done in mockery to his 
cardinal's hat. 

Helen Stark was accused of not having accustomed herself 
to pray to the virgin Mary, more especially during the time she 
was in child-bed. 

On these accusations they were all found guilty, and imme- 
diately received sentence of death ; the four men, for eating the 
goose, to be hanged ; James Raveleson to be burnt ; and the 
woman, with her sucking infant, to be put into a sack and 
drowned. The four men, with the woman and child, suffered 



PERSECUTIONS IN SCOTLAND. 45 

at the same time ; but James Eaveleson was not executed till 
some days after. 

The four men were all hanged on the same gibbet ; and the 
woman, with her sucking child, was conducted to a river ad- 
joining, when, being fastened in a large sack, they were thrown 
into it, and drowned. 

They all suffered their fate with becoming fortitude and re- 
signation, committing their departing spirits to that Redeemer 
who was to be their final judge, and who, they had reason to 
hope, would usher them into the realms of everlasting bliss. 

When we reflect on the sufferings of these unhappy persons, 
we are naturally induced, both as men and Christians, to lament 
their fate, and to express our feelings by dropping the tear of 
commiseration. The putting to death four men, for little other 
reason than that of satisfying nature with an article sent by 
Providence for that very purpose, merely because it was on a 
day prohibited by ridiculous bigotry and superstition, is shock- 
ing indeed ; but the fate of the innocent woman, and her still 
more harmless infant, makes human nature tremble at the 
contemplation of what mankind may become, when incited by 
bigotry to the gratification of the most diabolical cruelty. 

Besides the above-mentioned persons, many others were 
cruelly persecuted during the archbishop's stay at Perth, some 
being banished, and others confined in lothsome dungeons. In 
particular, John Rogers, a pious and learned man, was, by the 
archbishop's orders, murdered in prison, and his body thrown 
over the walls into the street ; after which the archbishop caused 
a report to be spread, that he had met with his death in an 
attempt to make his escape. 

The death of cardinal Beaton, for a short time, gave new 
spirits to the reformed in all parts of Scotland ; but their pleas- 
ing expectations were damped when they discovered the dispo- 
sition of his successor, John Hamilton, who was no less a rigid 
Papist, and violent persecutor of the Protestants, than his pre- 
decessor. No sooner did he assume the archiepiscopal dignity, 
than he dedicated a considerable part of his time to the op- 
pression of those who favored the reformed doctrine ; many of 
whom he caused to be imprisoned till they recanted ; and others, 
who would not, were banished the kingdom. 

The first person who fell a martyr to the rancorous passions 
of this bigoted tyrant, was one Adam Wallace, of Winton, in 
East-Lothian, who, having obtained a true knowledge of the 
gospel of Christ, spent the greater part of his time in endeavor- 
ing to propagate it among his fellow-creatures. His conduct 



46 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

being noticed by some bigoted Papists, an information was laid 
against him for heresy, on which he was apprehended and 
committed to prison. A few days after he was brought before 
the archbishop of St. Andrew's, and several other prelates, as- 
sembled at the church of the Black friars in Edinburgh, in order 
to be examined relative to his religious opinions, when three 
separate articles were exhibited against him : 1st. " That he 
had said and taught, that the bread and wine on the altar, after 
the words of consecration, were not the real body and blood of 
Ghrist. ,, 2d. " That he had said, and openly taught, that the 
mass was very idolatry, and an abomination in the sight of 
God." 3d. " That he had said, and openly taught, that the 
God which was worshiped by the members of the holy mother- 
church, was but bread made from corn growing on the earth, 
and that it was brought to the form in which it was used by the 
hands of men." 

The archbishop, after telling Wallace he had been guilty of 
many other errors, which he should pass over, asked him whe- 
ther he granted or denied the articles propounded. To which 
he answered in the affirmative. He then pronounced sentence 
of death on him as a heretic ; and he was immediately delivered 
over to the secular power, in* order for execution. 

In the evening of the same day, Wallace was visited by seve- 
ral Romish priests, who endeavored to prevail on him to recant ; 
but he stood too steadfastly in the faith he professed, and used 
such forcible arguments in vindication of the true gospel, that 
they left him with some wrath, saying, "he was too abandoned 
to make any impression." 

The next morning he was conducted to the castle hill at 
Edinburgh, when, being chained to the stake, and the fagots 
lighted, he cheerfully resigned up his soul into the hands of 
him who gave it, in full assurance of receiving a crown of glory 
in the heavenly mansions. 

It was supposed that the persecutors of Wallace were more 
violent against him than they would otherwise have been, on 
account of his wife, who, being employed as tutoress to the chil- 
dren of lady Ormiston, instructed them in the principles of the 
reformed religion. 

The next, and last person who suffered martyrdom in Scot- 
land for the cause of Christ, was one Walter Mille, who was 
burnt at Edinburgh in the year 1558. This person, in his 
younger years, had traveled into Germany, and on his re- 
turn was installed a priest of the church of Lunan in Angus ; 
but, on an information of heresy against him, in the time 



PERSECUTIONS IN SCOTLAND. 47 

of cardinal Beaton, he was forced to abandon his charge, and 
abscond. 

After the death of that prelate he returned, not knowing the 
persecuting spirit of his successor. Being well known by seve- 
ral bigoted Papists in the neighborhood, they accused him 
of heresy; in consequence of which he was apprehended, 
and committed to prison in order for execution the following 
day. 

This steadfast believer in Christ was eighty-two years of age, 
and very infirm ; from whence it was supposed that he could 
scarcely be heard. However, when he was led to the place of 
execution, he expressed his religious sentiments with such cour- 
age, and, at the same time, with such composure of mind, as 
astonished even his enemies. As soon as he was fastened to 
the stake, and the fagots lighted, he addressed the spectators as 
follows : 

11 The cause why I suffer this day is not for any crime, 
(though I acknowledge myself a miserable sinner,) but only for 
the defence of the truth as it is in Jesus Christ ; and I praise 
God who hath called me, by his mercy, to seal the truth with 
my life ; which, as I received it from him, so I willingly offer it 
up to his glory. Therefore, as you would escape eternal death, 
be no longer seduced by the lies of the seat of Antichrist ; but 
depend solely on Jesus Christ, and his mercy, that you may 
be delivered from condemnation. " He then added, " That he 
trusted he should be the last who would suffer death in Scotland 
on a religious account." 

Thus did this pious Christian cheerfully give up his life in de- 
fence of the truth of Christ's gospel, not doubting but he should 
be made a partaker of his heavenly kingdom. 

The people were so grieved at the death of this good man, 
that, as a monument of it to future ages, they raised a pile of 
stones on the spot where he suffered. This, however, was 
removed by order of the popish clergy, but replaced again 
by the people several times, till at length a guard was ap- 
pointed to apprehend all persons who should carry stones to 
that place. 

It is remarkable, that, from the universal esteem in which 
this man was held by the people, a cord could not be found to 
tie him with after his condemnation ; and on that very account 
his execution was postponed till the next morning, when they 
were reduced to the necessity of using the cords belonging to 
the archbishop's pavilion. 

The death of Walter Mille proved the overthrow of popery 



48 SOTFBWNCMB OP karly christians. 

in Scotland. The clergy were so sensible that their afiairs 
were (tiling to decay, that (hey, from that time, never dared to 
proceed to a capital punishment on account o( religion ; inso- 
much, that, in the synod held In Edinburgh, in July this year, 
L55S, some persons who hail been impeached for heresy were 
only condemned, upon their non-appearance, to make a public 
recantation at the market-cross o( that city, on the 1st of Sep- 
tember following, being St. Giles's Day, the tutelar saint of that 
place. 

It was usual, at the feast o( this saint, which now nearly ap- 
proached, to cany his image in procession through the town, 

ami the queen-regent was to honor the solemnity with her 
presence* Hut when the time was come, the image was miss- 
ing, it having been stolen from its station by some who were 
too wise to pray to it. 

This caused a hall to he made till another image was bor- 
rowed from the Cray friars, with which they set forward; and 

after the queen had accompanied them a considerable way, she 
withdrew into the castle, where she was to dine. Bttt no 
BOOner was she gone, than some persons, who had been pur- 
posely appointed, tore the picture from off the shoulders o( 
those who carried it, threw it into the dirt, and totally destroyed 

it. This gave such universal satisfaction to the people, that a 

general shout ensued, and a riot continued in the street during 
some hours; which was at length suppressed by the vigilance 

of the magistrates* 

About the same time a great disturbance happened at Perth, 
the circumstances attending which were as follow: a celebrated 

reformist minister having preached to a numerous congregation, 

after sermon was over, some godty persons remained in the 
church, when a priest was so imprudent as to open a case, in 
which were curiously engraved the figures o( many saints ; after 

which he made preparations for saying mass. A young man, 

observing this, said aloud, M This is intolerable ! As God plainly 

condemns, in scripture, idolatry, shall we stand and see such an 

insult T' The priest was so otlended at this, that he struck the 
youth a violent blow on the head, mi which he broke one of the 

qgures in the case, when immediately all the people fell on the 

priest, and destroyed every thing in the church that tended to 
idolatry. This being seen known abroad, the people assembled 
in large bodies, and proceeded to the monasteries o( the Gray 
and Black friars, both o( which they stripped ; and then pulled 
down the house o( the Carthusians; so that, in the space o( 



PERSECUTIONS IN SCOTLAND. 49 

two days, nothing remained of those noble building! but the 

bare walls. The like kind of outrage! were committed in 
many other towns in the kingdom* 

At this time there were many persons who made it their 
bu moss to solicit .subscriptions in order to carry on the work of 
reformation, and to abolish popery. Among those were several 
of the nobility, particularly the earl of Argyle, the lord James 

Stewart, the earl of Olencairn, &c. 

The endeavors of these noble reformists were attended with 
such success that they at length effected a complete reforma- 
tion in the kingdom J though they met with many obstacles 
from their inveterate enemies, the Papj 

5 



PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION IN THE REIGN OF 
EDWARD VI. 



Edward was the only son of king Henry, by his beloved wife 
Jane Seymour, who died the day after his birth, which took 
place on the 12th of October, 1537, so that, when he came to 
the throne, in 1547, he was but ten years of age. 

At six years of age, he was put into the hands of Dr. Cox 
and Mr. Cheke ; the one was to form his mind, and teach him 
philosophy and divinity ; the other to teach him languages and 
mathematics : other masters were also appointed for the various 
parts of his education. He discovered very early a good dispo- 
sition to religion and virtue, and a particular reverence for the 
scriptures ; and was once greatly offended with a person, who, 
in order to reach something hastily, laid a great Bible on the 
floor, and stood upon it. 

Upon his father's decease, he was proclaimed king. At his 
coming to the Tower, his father's will was opened, by which it 
was found that he had named sixteen noblemen and gentlemen 
to be the governors of the kingdom, and of his son's person, till 
he should be eighteen years of age. As might have been ex- 
pected, dissensions soon arose among so numerous a party ; and, 
on its being proposed that one should be chosen out of the six- 
teen to whom ambassadors should address themselves, and who 
should have the chief direction of affairs, the earl of Hertford 
was declared governor of the king's person, and protector of the 
kingdom ; with this restriction, that he should do nothing but 
by the advice and consent of the rest. Upon this advancement, 
and the opposition made to it, two parties were formed, the one 
headed by the protector, and the other by the chancellor : the 
favorers of the reformation were of the former, and those that 
opposed it of the latter. 

The chancellor was ordered to renew the commissions of the 
judges and justices of the peace, and king Henry's great seal 
was to be made use of till a new one should be made. The 
day after this, all the executors took oaths to execute their trust 
faithfully : the privy counsellors were also brought into the 
king's presence, who all expressed their satisfaction in the 



PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION. 51 

choice of the protector ; and it was ordered that all despatches 
to foreign princes should be signed only by him. All that held 
offices were required to come and renew their commissions, and 
to swear allegiance to the king : among the rest came the bish- 
ops, and took out such commissions as were granted in the 
former reign, by which they were to hold their bishoprics only 
during the king's pleasure. Cranmer set an example to the rest 
in taking out one of these. This check upon the bishops was 
judged expedient in case they should oppose the reformation ; 
but the ill consequences of such an unlimited power being fore- 
seen, the bishops who were afterwards promoted were not so 
fettered, but were to hold their bishoprics during life. 

An accident soon occurred, which made way for great 
changes in the church. The curate and church-wardens of St. 
Martin's, in London, were brought before the council for re- 
moving the crucifix, and other images, and putting some texts 
of scripture on the walls of their church, in the places where 
they stood : they answered, that in repairing their church, they 
had removed the images, which being rotten, they did not renew 
them, but put the words of scripture in their room: they had 
also removed others-, which they found had been abused to 
idolatry. Great pains were taken by the popish party to punish 
them severely, in order to strike a terror into others ; but Cran- 
mer was for the removing of all images set up in churches, as 
being expressly contrary both to the second commandment, and 
the practice of the purest Christians for many ages : and though, 
in compliance with the gross abuses of paganism, much of the 
pomp of their worship was very early brought into the Christian 
church, yet it was long before images were introduced. At first 
all images were condemned by the fathers ; then they allowed 
the use, but condemned the worshiping of them ; and after- 
wards, in the eighth and ninth centuries, the worshiping of 
them was, after a long contest, both in the East and West, at 
last generally received. Some, in particular, were believed to 
be more wonderfully endowed, and this was much improved by 
the cheats of the monks, who had enriched themselves by such 
means. And this abuse had now grown to such a height, that 
heathenism itself had not been guilty of greater absurdities to- 
wards its idols. Since all these abuses had arisen out of the 
use of them, and the setting them up being contrary to the 
command of God, and the nature of the Christian religion, 
which is simple and spiritual ; it seemed most reasonable to 
cure the disease in its root, and to clear the churches of images, 
that the people might be preserved from idolatry. 



&2 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

These reasons prevailed so far, that the curate and church- 
wardens were dismissed with a reprimand ; they were ordered 
to beware of such rashness for the future, and to provide a cru- 
cifix, and, till that could be had, were ordered to cause one to be 
painted on the wall. Upon this, Dr. Ridley, in a sermon 
preached before the king, inveighed against the superstition 
towards images and holy water, and spread over the whole na- 
tion a general disposition to pull them down ; which soon after 
commenced in Portsmouth. 

Upon this, Gardiner made great complaints ; he said, the 
Lutherans themselves went not so far, for he had seen images 
in their churches. He distinguished between image and idol, 
as if the one, which, he said, only was condemned, was the 
representation of a false God, and the other of the true ; and he 
thought, that as words conveyed by the ear begat devotion, so 
images, by the conveyance of the eye, might have the same 
effect on the mind. He also thought a virtue might be both in 
them and in holy water, as well as there was in Christ's gar- 
ments, Peter's shadow, or Elisha's staff; and there might be a 
virtue in holy water, as well as in the water of baptism. 

To these arguments, which Gardiner wrote in several letters, 
the protector answered, that the bishops had formerly argued 
much in another strain, namely, that because the scriptures 
were abused by the vulgar readers, therefore they were not to be 
trusted to them ; and so made a pretended abuse the ground of 
taking away that which, by God's especial appointment, was to 
be delivered to all Christians. This held much stronger against 
images forbidden by God. The brazen serpent set up by Moses, 
by God's own direction, was broken when abused to idolatry ; 
for that was the greatest corruption of religion possible : but yet 
the protector acknowledged there was reason to complain of the 
forwardness of the people, who broke down images without 
authority : to prevent which, in future, orders were sent to the 
justices of peace to look well to the peace and government of 
the nation. 

The funeral of the deceased king was performed, with the 
usual ceremonies, at Windsor. He had left six hundred pounds 
a year to the church of Windsor, for priests to say mass for his 
soul every day, and for four obits 5 * a year, and sermons, and 
distribution of alms at every one of them, and for a sermon 
every Sunday, and a maintenance for thirteen poor knights, 

# Obit was the anniversary of a person's death, and to observe such a 
day with prayers, alms, or other commemoration, was termed keeping 
of the obit. 



PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION* 53 

which was settled upon that church by his executors in due 
form of law. 

The pomp of this endowment led people to examine into the 
usefulness of soul-masses and obits. Christ appointed the sacra- 
ment for a commemoration of his death among the living, but it 
was not easy to conceive how that was to be applied to departed 
souls ; and it was evidently a project for drawing the wealth of 
the world into their hands. In the primitive church there was 
a commemoration of the dead, or an honorable remembrance of 
them, made in the daily offices. But even this custom grew 
into abuse, and some inferred from it that departed souls, unless 
they were signally pure, passed through a purgation in the next 
life, before they were admitted to heaven ; of which St. Austin, 
in whose time the opinion began to be received, says, that it 
was taken up without any sure ground in scripture. But what 
was wanting in scripture-proof was supplied by visions, dreams, 
and tales, till it was generally received. King Henry had acted 
like one who did not much believe it, for he had deprived innu- 
merable souls of the masses that were said for them in monas- 
teries, by destroying those foundations. Yet he seems to have 
intended, that if masses could avail the departed souls, he would 
himself be secure ; and as he gratified the priests by this part 
of his endowment, so he pleased the people by appointing ser- 
mons and alms to be given on such days. Thus he died as he 
had lived, wavering between both persuasions. 

But now the ceremony of the coronation took off the attention 
of the multitude from more serious thoughts. The protector 
was made duke of Somerset ; the earl of Essex, marquis of 
Northampton ; the lords Lisle and Wriothesley, earls of War- 
wick and Southampton ; Seymour, Eich, Willoughby, and 
Sheffield, were made, barons. In order to the king's coronation, 
the office for that ceremony was reviewed, and much shortened ; 
one remarkable alteration was, that formerly the king used to 
be presented to the people at the corners of the scaffold, and they 
were asked if they would have him to be their king ? Which 
looked like an election, rather than a ceremony of investing one 
that was already king. This was now changed, and the people 
were desired only to give their assent and good-will to his coro- 
nation, as by the duty of allegiance they were bound to do. On 
the 20th of February, 1547, he was crowned, and a general 
pardon was proclaimed, out of which the duke of Norfolk, car- 
dinal Pole, and some others, were excepted. 

The chancellor, who was looked on as the head of the popish 
party, now lost his place, by granting a commission to the mas- 
5* 



64 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS* 

ter of the rolls, and three masters of chancery, of whom two 
were civilians, to execute his office in the court of chancery, as 
if he were present, only their decrees were to be brought to him 
to be signed before they should be enrolled. 

The first business of consequence that required great con- 
sideration was the Smalcaldic war, then begun between the 
emperor and the princes of the Protestant league : the effects 
of which, if the emperor prevailed, were like to be, not only the 
extirpating of Lutheranism, but his becoming the absolute mas- 
ter of Germany : which he chiefly wished, as the first step to a 
universal monarchy, but disguised it to other princes : to the 
pope he pretended that his design was only to extirpate heresy ; 
to other sovereigns he pretended it was to repress a rebellion, 
and denied all design of suppressing the new doctrines ; which 
he managed so artfully, that he divided Germany against itself, 
and got some Lutheran princes to declare for him, and others 
to be neutrals ; and having obtained a very liberal supply for 
his wars with France and the Turks, for which he granted an 
edict for liberty of conscience, he made peace with both these 
princes, and resolved to employ that treasure which the Germans 
had given him, against themselves. That he might deprive 
them of their chief allies, he used means to engage king Henry 
and Francis the First in a war ; but that was, chiefly by their 
interposition, composed. And now, when the war was likely 
to be carried on with great vigor, both those princes died ; Henry 
in January, and Francis in March following. Many of their 
confederates began to capitulate and forsake them; and the 
divisions among their own commanders very much hindered 
their success. 

The pope wished to engage the emperor in a war in Germany, 
that so Italy might be at peace ; and in order to accomplish this 
object, he published the treaty which had been made between 
them, that so it might appear that the design of the war was to 
extirpate heresy, though the emperor was making great protes- 
tations to the contrary in Germany. He also opened the coun- 
cil of Trent, which Charles had long desired in vain ; but it was 
now brought upon him when he least wished for it ; for the 
Protestants all declared, that they could not look upon it as a 
free general council, since it was so entirely at the pope's devo- 
tion, that not so much as a reformation of the grossest abuses 
was likely to be obtained. Nor could the emperor prevail with 
the council not to condemn the " new doctrines" as heresy ; but 
the more he attempted to obstruct its proceedings, the more did 
the pope urge it on, to open the eyes of the Germans, and en- 



PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION. 55 

gage them all vigorously against the emperor : who, on his part, 
gave them such secret assurances of tolerating the Augsburgh 
confession, that the marquis of Brandenburgh declared for him, 
and his example was followed by several other princes. This 
was the state of affairs in Germany ; which rendered it very 
difficult to determine what answer the protector should give the 
duke of Saxony's chancellor, whom he had sent over to obtain 
money for carrying on the war. It was, on the one hand, of 
great importance to the safety of England to preserve the Ger- 
man princes, and yet it was very dangerous to begin a war of 
such consequence under an infant king. At present the govern- 
ment only promised, within three months, to send fifty thousand 
crowns to Hamburgh, and would do no more till new emergen- 
cies should lead them to new councils. 

The nation was in an ill condition for a war with such a 
mighty prince ; laboring under great distractions at home ; the 
people generally crying out for a reformation, despising the 
clergy, and loving the new preachers. The priests were, for 
the most part, very ignorant, and scandalous in their lives J 
many of them had been monks, and those who were to pay 
them the pensions which were reserved to them at the destruc- 
tion of the monasteries, till they should be provided, took care 
to get them into some small benefice. The greatest part of the 
parsonages were impropriated, for they belonged to the monas* 
teries, and the abbots had only granted the incumbents either 
the vicarage, or some small donative, and left them the perqui- 
sites raised by masses and other offices. At the suppression of 
those houses there was no care taken to make provision for the 
incumbents ; so that they were in some measure compelled to 
continue in their idolatrous practices for subsistence. 

Now these persons saw that a reformation of those abuses 
would deprive them of their means of existence ; and, therefore, 
they were at first zealous against all changes ; but the same 
principle made them comply with every change which was 
made, rather than lose their benefices. The clergy were en- 
couraged in their opposition to the reformation by the protection 
they expected from Gardiner, Bonner, and Tonstall, men of 
great reputation, and in power ; and, above all, the lady Mary, 
the next heir to the crown, openly declared against all changes 
till the king should be of age. 

On the other hand, Cranmer resolved to proceed more vigor- 
ously : the protector was firmly united to him, as were the 
young king's tutors, and Edward himself was as much engaged 
as could be expected from so young a person ; for both his 



56 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS* 

knowledge and zeal for true religion were above his age. Seve- 
ral of the bishops also declared for a reformation, but Ridley, 
bishop of Rochester, was the person on whom Cranmer most 
depended* Latimer remained with him at Lambeth, and did 
great service by his sermons, which were very popular ; but he 
would not return to his bishopric, choosing rather to serve the 
church in a more disengaged manner. Assisted by these per- 
sons, Cranmer resolved to proceed by degrees, and to give the 
reasons of every advance so fully, that he hoped, by the blessing 
of God, to convince the nation of the fitness of whatsoever should 
be done, and thereby prevent the dangerous opposition that might 
otherwise be apprehended. 

The power of the privy council had been much exalted in the 
last reign, by act of parliament ; and one proviso made was, 
that the king's council should have the same authority when he 
was under age that he himself had at full age : it was, therefore, 
resolved to begin with a general visitation of all England, which 
was divided into six precincts : and two gentlemen, a civilian, a 
divine, and a register, were appointed for each of these. But 
before they were sent out, a letter was written to all the bishops, 
giving them notice of it, suspending their jurisdiction while it 
lasted, and requiring them to preach nowhere but in their cathe- 
drals, and that the other clergy should not preach but in their 
own churches, without license ; by which it was intended to 
restrain such as were not acceptable, to their own parishes, and 
to grant the others licenses to preach in any church of England. 
The greatest difficulty the reformers found, was in the want of 
able and prudent men ; most of the reformed preachers being 
too hot and indiscreet, and the few who were otherwise, were 
required in London and the universities. 

The only thing by which the people could be universally in- 
structed, was a book of homilies : therefore, the twelve first 
homilies, in the book still known by that name, were compiled ; 
in framing which, the chief design was to acquaint the people 
rightly with the nature of the gospel-covenant. Orders were 
also given, that a Bible should be in every church, which, though 
it had been commanded by Henry, yet had not been generally 
obeyed; and for understanding the New Testament, Erasmus's 
paraphrase was translated into English, and appointed to be 
placed with it. His great reputation and learning, and his dying 
in the communion of the Roman church, made this book prefer- 
able to any other of the kind. 

The injunctions made by Cromwell in the former reign, for 
instructing the people, for removing images, and putting down 



PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION. 57 

all other customs abused to superstition ; for reading the scrip- 
tures, saying the litany in English, for frequent sermons and 
catechising, for the exemplary lives of the clergy, their labors in 
visiting the sick, reconciling differences, and exhorting the peo- 

Ele to charity, &c. were now renewed ; and all who gave livings 
y simoniacal bargains, were declared to have forfeited their 
right of patronage to the king. A great charge was also given 
for the strict observation of the Lord's day, which was appointed 
to be spent wholly in the service of God, it not being enough to 
hear mass or matins in the morning, and spend the rest of the 
day in drunkenness and quarreling as was commonly practised ; 
but it ought to be all employed, either in the duties of religion, 
or in acts of charity. Direction was also given for the saying 
of prayers, in which the king, as supreme head, the queen, and 
the king's sisters, the protector and council, and all orders of 
persons in the kingdom, were to be mentioned. Injunctions 
were also given for the bishops to preach four times a year in 
all their dioceses, once in their cathedral, and thrice in any other 
church, unless they had a good excuse to the contrary : that 
their chaplains should preach often : and that they should give 
orders to none but to such as were duly qualified. 

The visiters at length ended the visitation, and in London and 
every part of England, the images, for refusing to bow down to 
which many a saint had been burnt, were now committed to the 
flames. Bonner at first protested that he would obey the in- 
junctions, if they were not contrary to the laws of God and the 
ordinances of the church ; but being called before the council, 
he retracted, and asked pardon ; yet, for an example to others, 
he was for some time confined. Gardiner wrote to one of the 
visiters, before they came to Winchester, that he could not 
receive the homilies ; and if he must either quit his bishopric, 
or sin against his conscience, he resolved to choose the former. 
Upon this he was called before the council, and required to 
receive the book of homilies: but he objected to one of them, 
which taught that charity did not justify, contrary to the book 
published by the late king, and confirmed in parliament. He 
also complained of many things in Erasmus's paraphrase : and 
being pressed to declare whether he would obey the injunctions, 
or not, he refused to promise it, and was, in consequence, sent 
to the Fleet. Cranmer treated in private with him, and they 
argued much about justification. Gardiner thought the sacra- 
ments justified, and that charity justified as well as faith. Cran- 
mer urged, that nothing but the merits of Christ justified, as 



58 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

they were applied by faith, which could not exist without 
charity.^ 

Gardiner lay in prison till the act of general pardon set him 
at liberty. Many blamed the severity of these proceedings, as 
contrary both to law and equity, and said, that all people, even 
those who complained most of arbitrary power, were apt to 
usurp it when in authority. Lady Mary was so much alarmed, 
that she wrote to the protector, that such changes were contrary 
to the honor due to her father's memory, and it was against 
tjieir duty to the king to enter upon such points, and endanger 
the public peace, before he was of age. To which he answered, 
" That her father had died before he could finish the good things 
he had intended concerning religion ; and had expressed his 
regret, both before himself any many others, that he left things 
in so unsettled a state ;" and assured her, " that nothing should 
be done but what would turn to the glory of God, and the king's 
honor." 

The parliament was opened the fourth of November, and the 
protector was by patent authorized to sit under the cloth of state, 
on the right hand of the throne ; and to have all the honors and 
privileges that so near a relative of the sovereign had ever had. 
Rich was lord chancellor. The first act that was passed, five 
bishops only dissenting, was, a repeal of all statutes in the late 
reign, that had made any thing treason or felony which was not 
so before, and of the six articles, and the authority given to the 
king's proclamations, as also of the acts against Lollards. The 
last act was for granting a general pardon, but clogged with 
some exceptions. 

The convocation sat at the same time ; and moved that the 
commission begun in the late reign for reforming the ecclesias- 
tical laws, might be revived, and that the inferior clergy might 
be admitted to sit in the house of commons, for which they 
alleged a clause in the bishop's writ, and ancient custom ; and 
since some prelates had, under the former reign, begun to alter 
the service of their church, they desired it might be brought to 
perfection ; and that some care might be taken for supplying the 
poor clergy, and relieving them from the taxes that lay so heavily 
on them. The claim of the inferior clergy to sit in the house 
of commons occasioned some debate, but to no effect. 

It was resolved that some bishops and divines should be sent 

# Nothing can be more correct than this; for what is faith but the love 
of God shed abroad in the heart ? filling the believer with benevolence, and 
the desire of imparting the happiness he feels to all around him. 



PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION. 69 

to Windsor, to finish some reformations in the public offices; 
the whole lower house of convocation, without a contradictory 
vote, agreed to the bill about the sacrament. A proposition 
being also set on foot concerning the lawfulness of the marriage 

of the clergy, thirty-five subscribed to the affirmative, and only 
fourteen dissented. 

Gardiner, being included in the act of pardon, was set at 
liberty: he promised to receive and obey the injunctions, ob- 
jecting only to the homily of justification ; yet he complied in 
that likewise: but it was visible that in his heart he abhorred 
all these proceedings, though he outwardly conformed. 

Candlemas and Lent were now approaching, and the clergy 
and people were much divided with respect to the ceremonies 
usual at those times. By some injunctions in Henry's reign, it 
had been declared that fasting in Lent was only binding by a 
positive law. Wakes and Plow-Mondays were also suppressed, 
and hints were given that other customs, which were much 
abused, should be shortly done away. The rabble loved these 
things, as matters of diversion, and thought divine worship 
without them would be but a dull business. But others looked 
on them as relics of heathenism, and thought they did not be- 
come the gravity and simplicity of the Christian religion. 

Cranmer procured an order of council against the carrying of 
candles on Cand!ernas-day, of ashes on A sh- Wednesday, and 
palms on Palm-Sunday; which was directed to Bonner to be 
intimated to the bishops of the province of Canterbury, and was 
executed by him. But a proclamation followed against all who 
should make changes without authority. The creeping to the 
cross, and taking holy bread and water, were put down, and 
was given to the archbishop of Canterbury to certify, in 
the king's name, what ceremonies should be afterwards laid 
: ; and none were to preach out of their own parishes with- 
out license from the king or the visiters, the archbishop, or the 
bishop of the diocese. Soon after this, a general order followed 
for a removed of all images out of churches, which occasioned 
great contests whether the images had been abused to supersti- 
tion or not. Some thought the consecration of them was an 
abuse. Those also which represented the Trinity as a man 
with three faces in one head; or as an old man with a young 
man before him, and a dove over his head; and some where 
the blessed Virgin was represented as admitted into it, gai 
great scandal, that it was no wonder, if men. a; they grew more 
enlightened, could no longer endure them. The only occasion 
D to censure in this order, was, that all shrines, and the 



60 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

plate belonging to them, were appointed to be brought in for the 
king's use. 

Eighteen bishops, and some other divines, were now employed 
to examine and amend the offices of the church. They began 
with the eucharist, and proceeded in the same manner as in the 
former reign. It was clearly found that the plain institution of 
the sacrament was much vitiated, with a mixture of many hea- 
thenish rites and pomps, to raise the credit of the priests, in 
whose hands that great performance was lodged. This was at 
first done to draw over the heathens by those splendid rites to 
Christianity ; but superstition, once begun, has no bounds ; and 
ignorance and barbarity increasing in the middle ages, there 
was no regard had to any thing in religion, but as it was set off 
with pageantry ; and the belief of the corporeal presence raised 
this to a still greater height. The office was in an unknown 
tongue ; all the vessels and garments belonging to it, were con- 
secrated with much devotion ; a great part of the service was 
secret, to make it look like a wonderful charm ; the consecration 
itself was to be said very softly, for words that were not to be 
heard agreed best with a change that was not to be seen : the 
many gesticulations, and the magnificent processions, all tended 
to raise this pageantry higher. Masses were also said for all 
the affairs of human life. Trentals, a custom of having thirty 
masses a year on the chief festivals for redeeming souls out of 
purgatory, was that which brought the priests most money, for 
those were thought to be God's best days, in which access was 
easier to him ! On saint's days, hi the mass it was prayed, that 
by the saint's intercession the sacrifice might become the more 
acceptable, and procure a more ample indulgence ; which could 
not be easily explained, if the sacrifice was the death of Christ. 
Besides the before-mentioned, a numberless variety of other 
rites and ceremonies, borrowed from the heathens, were made 
use of for corrupting the holiest institutions of the Christian 
religion. 

The first step that was now taken was to make a new office 
for the communion, that is, the distribution of the sacrament, for 
the office of consecration was not at this time touched. In the 
exhortation, auricular confession to a priest is left free to be done 
or omitted, and all were required not to judge one another in 
that matter. There was also a denunciation made, requiring 
impenitent sinners to withdraw. The bread was to be still of 
the same form as that formerly used. In the distribution it was 
said, " The body of our Lord, &c. preserve thy body ; and the 
blood of our Lord, &c. preserve thy soul." This was printed, 



PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION. 61 

with a proclamation, requiring all to receive it with such reve- 
rence and uniformity as might encourage the king to proceed 
further, and not to run to other things before the king gave 
direction, assuring the people of his earnest zeal to set forth 
godly orders ; and therefore it was hoped they would wait for 
it ; the books were sent all over England, and the clergy were 
appointed to administer the communion at the following Easter 
according to them. 

Confession was next examined ; and it was found that the 
practice had commenced in the early ages of the church ; and 
penances had been imposed by the priests. Afterwards pil- 
grimages, and crusades against heretics, or princes deposed by 
the pope, were commanded instead of all other penances : the 
priests also managed confession and absolution, so as to enter 
into all men's secrets, and to govern their consciences by them ; 
many reserved cases were made, in which the pope only gave 
absolution ; this occasioned the trade of indulgences to be put 
in their hands, which they managed with as much confidence 
as mountebanks use in selling their medicines, with the superior 
advantage over other quacks, that the inefficacy of their devices 
was not so easily discovered. 

Gardiner was now again brought into trouble ; many com- 
plaints were made of him, that he disparaged the preachers 
sent with the king's license into his diocese, and that he secretly 
opposed all reformation. On being brought before the council, 
he denied most of the things objected to him, and offered to 
explain himself openly in a sermon before the king. This being 
granted, he justified many of the changes that had been made ; 
but when he came to the sacrament, he contended so strongly 
for the corporeal presence, that a great disturbance took place 
in the church. This conduct being deemed seditious, he was 
sent to the Tower. 

But now a more general reformation of the whole liturgy was 
under consideration, that all the nation might have an uniformity 
in the worship of God. Anciently the liturgies were short, and 
had few ceremonies in them : every bishop had one for his 
diocese ; but in the African churches they began first to put 
them into a more regular form. Gregory the Great labored 
much in this : yet he left Augustine, when he sent him into 
Britain, to his choice, either to use the Eoman or French forms 
in England, as he found they were like to tend most to edifica- 
tion. Great additions had been made to the liturgy in every 
age ; for the private devotions of some who were reputed saints, 
were added to the public offices : and mysterious significations 
6 



62 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

were invented for every new rite, which swelled them to 
a vast bulk. It was now resolved to have a liturgy, which 
should bring the worship to a proper mean between the pomp 
of superstition, and naked simplicity. It was resolved to 
change nothing merely in opposition to received practices, but 
rather (in imitation of what Christ did in the institution of the 
two sacraments of the gospel, that consisted of rites used among 
the Jews, but sanctified by him to higher purposes) to comply 
with what had been formerly in use, as much as was possible, 
thereby to gain the people. 

All the consecrations of water, salt, &c. in the church of 
Eome, being relics of heathenism, were laid aside. The abso- 
lutions on account of the merits of the blessed Virgin and the 
saints, the sprinklings of water, fastings, and pilgrimages, with 
many other things ; and the absolution given to dead bodies, 
were looked upon as gross impostures, tending to make the 
world think, that the priests had the keys of heaven in their 
hands, and could carry people thither on easier terms than the 
gospel prescribes. This induced the people to purchase their 
favor, especially when they were dying ; so that, as their fears 
were then heightened, there was no other way left them, in the 
conclusion of an ill life, to die with any hopes of eternal happi- 
ness, but as they bargained with their priests ; all this was now 
rejected. 

It was resolved to have the whole worship in the vulgar 
tongue ; as enabling all persons to join in " praising God with 
understanding." As white had been the color of the priests' 
vestments, under the Mosaical law, had early been brought into 
the Christian churches, and was a proper expression of innocence, 
and it being fit that the worship of God should be performed in 
a decent habit, it was continued. 

The morning and evening prayers were put almost in the 
same form as that in which they now stand, only there was 
neither confession nor absolution. In the office for the commu- 
nion, there was a commemoration of thanksgiving for the bless- 
ed Virgin and all departed saints, and they were commended 
to God's mercy and peace. In the consecration, the use of 
crossing the elements was retained ; but there was no elevation, 
which was at first used as an historical rite, to show Christ's 
being lifted up on the cross ; but it was afterwards done, to 
excite the people to adore it. No stamp was to be on the bread, 
and it was to be thicker than ordinary. It was to be put in the 
people's mouths by the priests, though it had been anciently put 
in their hands ; but after the corporeal presence was acknow- 



PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION. 63 

ledged, the people were not suffered to touch it, and the priest's 
thumbs and fingers were peculiarly anointed, to qualify them 
for that contact. In baptism the child's head and breast were 
to be crossed, and adjuration was to be made of the devil to 
depart from him : children were to be thrice dipped, or in case 
of weakness, water was to be sprinkled on their faces, and then 
they were to be anointed. The sick might also be anointed if 
they desired it. At funerals, the departed soul was recom- 
mended to God's mercy. 

The sacraments were formerly believed of such virtue, that 
they conferred grace by the very receiving them. Acting on 
this belief, the early Christians used to send portions of the 
eucharist to the sick, but without any pomp : which was a cor- 
ruption of later times. But instead of the procession with the 
host, it was now appointed that the sacraments should be min- 
istered to the sick, being consecrated by their bedsides: and, in 
case of weakness, children were allowed to be baptized in houses ; 
though it was more suitable to the design of baptism, which 
was the admission of a new member to the church, to do it be- 
fore the whole congregation. 

The liturgy thus compiled was published, with a preface con- 
cerning ceremonies. 

When the book came before the public, several things were 
censured ; as particularly the frequent use of the cross, and 
anointing. The former was at first used as a badge of a cruci- 
fied Savior, but was much corrupted by the priests in after ages, 
so that it was at length believed to have a virtue for driving 
away evil spirits, and preserving one from dangers ; and ac- 
quired a kind of sacramental character, entirely unfounded in 
scripture or reason ; but the using it as a ceremony, expressing 
the believing in a crucified Savior, could imply no superstition. 

The Protestant religion now appeared almost ruined in Ger- 
many, and this made the reformers turn their eyes to England. 
Calvin wrote to the protector, and pressed him to go on to a 
more complete reformation, and that prayers for the dead, the 
chrism, and extreme unction, might be laid aside. He desired 
him to trust in God, and go on, and wished there were more 
preaching, and in a more lively way than he heard was then in 
England : but above all things, he prayed him to suppress that 
impiety and profanity that, as he heard, abounded in the nation. 

In February, 1549, an act passed, allowing the clergy to 
marry. It was declared, " that it were better for priests to live 
unmarried, free of all worldly cares ; yet, since the laws com- 
pelling it had occasioned great debauchery, they were all re- 



64 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

pealed." The pretence of chastity in the Romish priests had 
possessed the world with a high opinion of them, and had been 
a great reflection on the reformers, if the world had not clearly 
seen through it, and been made very sensible of the ill effects 
of it, by the defilement it brought into their own families. Nor 
was there any point in which the reformers had searched the 
scriptures more, to remove the prejudice that lay against them. 
In the Old Testament all the priests were not only married, but 
the office descended by inheritance. In the New Testament, 
marriage was declared honorable in all : among the qualifica- 
tions of bishops and deacons, their being the husbands of one 
wife are reckoned up. Many of the apostles were married, and 
carried their wives about with them, as also Aquila did Pris- 
cilla. 

Another act was passed, confirming the liturgy, which was 
now finished ; eight bishops and three temporal lords only pro- 
testing against it. There was a long preamble, setting forth 
the inconvenience of the former offices, and the pains that had 
been taken to reform them ; and that divers bishops and divines 
had, by the aid of the Holy Ghost, with a uniform agreement 
concluded on the new book: therefore they enacted that by 
Whitsunday next, all divine offices should be performed accord- 
ing to it ; and if any persons used other offices, for the first 
offence they should be imprisoned six months, lose their bene- 
fices for the second, and be imprisoned during life for the third. 

Another act was also passed respecting fasting, declaring, 
" That though all days and meats were in themselves alike, yet 
fasting being a great help to virtue, and to the subduing the 
body to the mind, it was enacted, that Lent, and all Fridays and 
Saturdays, and ember-days, should be fish days, under several 
penalties, excepting the weak, or those that had the king's 
license." Christ had told his disciples, that when he was taken 
from them, they should fast : so in the primitive church they 
fasted before Easter ; but the same number of days was not 
observed in all places ; afterwards, other rules and days were 
established : but St. Austin complained, that many in his time 
placed all their religion in observing them. Fast days are 
turned to a mockery in the church of Rome, in which they dine 
on fish exquisitely dressed, and drink wine. 

Both the laity and clergy gave the king subsidies, upon which 
the parliament was prorogued The first thing attended to was 
the enforcing the act of uniformity. Some complaints were 
made of the priests' manner of officiating ; who did it with such 
a tone of voice that the people could not understand what was 



PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION. 65 

Said, any more than when the prayers were said in Latin 
Prayers were, therefore, ordered to be said in parish churches 
in a plain voice, but in cathedrals the old way was still kept up, 
as agreeing better with the music used in them ; though this 
seemed not very decent in the confession of sins, nor in the 
litany, where a simple voice, gravely uttered, agreed better with 
those devotions than cadences and musical notes. Others con- 
tinued to use all the gesticulations, crossings, and kneelings, to 
which they had formerly been accustomed. The people also 
continued the use of their beads, w r hich had been brought in by 
Peter the Hermit, in the eleventh century, by which the repeat- 
ing the angel's salutation to the Virgin was made a great part 
of their devotion, and was ten times said for one Paternoster. 
Instructions were given to the visiters to put all these down, 
and to inquire if any priest continued their trentals or masses 
for departed souls. Orders were also given, that there should 
be no private masses at altars in the corners of churches ; also 
that there should be but one communion in a day, unless in 
great churches, and at high festivals, in which they were allow- 
ed to have two, one in the morning, and another at noon. 

The visiters made their report, that they found the book of 
common prayer received universally over the kingdom, except 
that the lady Mary continued to have mass said according to 
the abrogated forms. Upon this, the council wrote to her to 
conform to the laws : " for, the nearer she was to the king in 
blood, she was so much the more obliged to give example to the 
rest of the subjects." She refused to comply with their desires, 
and sent to the emperor for his protection ; upon which he 
pressed the English ambassadors, who promised, that she should 
be dispensed with, at least for the present. The emperor pre- 
tended afterwards that they had made him an absolute promise 
that she should never more be troubled about it, but they said 
it was only a temporary one. She refused to acknowledge the 
laws made when the king was under age, and carried herself 
very haughtily ;* for she well knew that the protector was then 
fearful of a war with France, which made the emperor's alliance 

* She obstinately refused to hear any of the bishops speak before her 
in favor of the reformation. Upon this the council returned an answer 
to her, " that her objections were more the result of will than of reason; 
and therefore her grace must be admonished neither to trust her own 
opinion without ground, nor to mislike all others having ground. If hers 
be good, it is no hurt if she hear the worse. If it be ill, she shall do well 
to hear the better. She shall not alter by hearing, but by hearing the 
better." 

6# 



66 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS* 

more necessary to England : yet the council sent for the officers 
of her household, and required them to let her know, that ths 
king's authority was the same while he was a child, as if he 
were at full age ; and that it was now lodged in them, and 
though, as single persons, they were all inferior to her, yet, as 
they were the king's council, she was bound to obey them, 
especially when they executed the law; which all subjects, of 
what rank soever, were bound to obey. At present, however, 
they durst go no further, for fear of the emperor's displeasure. 

The reformation of the greatest errors in divine worship being 
thus established, Cranmer proceeded next to establish a form 
of doctrine. The chief point hitherto untouched, was the pre- 
sence of Christ in the sacrament, which the priests magnified as 
the greatest mystery of the Christian religion, and the chief 
privilege of Christians ; with which the simple and credulous 
vulgar were much affected. The Lutherans received that which 
had been for some ages the doctrine of the Greek church, that 
in the secraments there were both bread and wine, and also the 
substance of the body and blood of Christ. The Helvetians 
looked on it only as a commemoration of the death of Christ. 
The princes of Germany were at great pains to have these 
reconciled, in which Bucer had labored with great industry. 
Some took a middle way, and asserted a real presence ; but 
it was not easy to understand what was meant by that expres* 
sion, unless it was a real application of Christ's death ; so that 
the meaning of really was effectually* But though Bucer fol- 
lowed this method, Peter Martyr, in his lectures, declared plainly 
for the Helvetians. Dr. Smith, and some others, intended 
publicly to oppose him ; and challenged him to a dispute about 
it, which he readily accepted, on these conditions, that the king's 
council should first approve of it, and that it should be managed 
in scripture terms : for the strength of those doctrines lay in a 
nimble managing of those barbarous and unintelligible terms of 
the schools, which, though they sounded high, yet really had 
no meaning: so that all the Protestants resolved to dispute in 
scripture terms, which was certainly more proper in matters of 
divinity than the metaphysical language of schoolmen. 

The council having appointed Dr. Cox, and some others, to 

(>reside in the dispute, Dr. Smith went out of the way, and a 
ittle after fled out of England : but before he went he wrote a 
very mean submission to Cranmer. Other doctors disputed 
with Peter Martyr concerning transubstantiation, but that had 
the common fate of all public disputes, for both sides contended 
that they had the better. At the same time there were also 



PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION. 67 

disputes at Cambridge, which were moderated by Ridley, who 
had been sent down by the council. He had fallen on Bertram's 
book of the Sacrament, and wondered much to find so celebrated 
a writer, in the ninth century, engage so plainly against the 
corporeal presence. This disposed him to think that at that 
time it was not the received belief of the church : he communi- 
cated this to Cranmer, and they together made great collections 
out of the fathers on this head, and both of them wrote concern- 
ing it. 

There were some Anabaptists at this time in England, who 
came from Germany. Of these there were two sorts ; the first 
only objected to the baptizing of children, and to the manner of 
it, by sprinkling instead of dipping. The other held many 
opinions^ anciently condemned as heresies ; they had raised a 
war in Germany, and had set up a new king at Munster ; but 
all these were called Anabaptists, from their opposition to infant 
baptism, though it was one of the mildest opinions they held. 
When they came to England, a commission was granted to 
some bishops, and others, to search them dut, and to proceed 
against them. Several of these persons, on being taken up and 
brought before them, abjured their errors, some of which were, 
u That there was not a trinity of persons ; that Christ was not 
God, and took not flesh of the Virgin ; and that a regenerate 
man could not sin." 

Joan Bocher, called Joan of Kent, one of their proselytes, 
persisted in her error, and denied that Christ took flesh of the 
substance of his mother ; she was intolerably vain of her no- 
tions, and rejected with scorn all the instruction offered her : 
she was, therefore, condemned as an obstinate heretic, and 
delivered to the secular power. But it was with the most ex- 
treme reluctance that the king signed the warrant for her execu- 
tion : he thought it was an instance of the same spirit of cruelty 
for which the reformers condemned the papists ; and notwith- 
standing all the arguments that were used with him, he was 
rather silenced than satisfied, and signed the warrant with tears 
in his eyes, saying to Cranmer, that since he resigned up him- 
self to his judgment, if he sinned in it, it should lie at his door. 
This struck the archbishop, and both he and Ridley took great 
pains with her, and tried what reason, joined with gentleness, 
could do. But she growing still more and more insolent, at last 
was burnt, and ended her life very indecently, breaking out 
often in jeers and reproaches. 

Some time after this, George Van Parre, a Dutchman, was 
also condemned and burnt for denying the divinity of Christ, 



68 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

and saying, that the Father only was God. He had led a very 
exemplary life, both for fasting, devotion, and a good conversa- 
tion, and suffered with extraordinary composure of mind 
Against the other sort of Anabaptists no severities were used ; 
but several books were written to justify infant baptism ; and 
the practice of the church, so clearly begun, and so universally 
spread, was thought a good plea, especially being grounded on 
such arguments in scripture as demonstrated at least its lawful- 
ness. 

By this time the greater number of the bishops were sincere 
friends to the reformation : it was, therefore, resolved to proceed 
to a settlement of the doctrine of the church. Many persons 
thought that should have been done in the first place ; but Cran- 
mer judged it better to proceed slowly in that matter: he thought 
the corruptions in the worship were to be first abolished ; "since, 
while they remained, the addresses to God were so defiled that 
all people were involved in unlawful compliances." He thought 
speculative opinions might be reformed last, since errors in them 
were not of such ill consequence ; and he judged it necessary 
to explain these in many treatises and disputes, before altera- 
tions were made, in order that every one might be acquainted 
with what was intended to be done. Accordingly the bishops 
and clergy framed a body of articles, which contained the doc- 
trine of the church of England : they divided them into forty- 
two, and afterwards, some few alterations being made in the 
beginning of queen Elizabeth's reign, they were reduced to their 
present number, thirty-nine. 

When this was settled, they commenced the review of the 
common prayer book. In the daily service they added the 
confession and absolution, " that so the worship of God might 
begin with a grave and humble confession ; after which a sol- 
emn declaration of the mercy of God, according to the terms of 
the gospel," was to be pronounced by the priest. This was 
thought much better than the giving absolution in such formal 
words as " I absolve thee ;" which raised, in superficial wor- 
shipers, an opinion that the priest had authority to pardon sin, 
and made them think of nothing so much as how to purchase it 
at his hands. In the communion service they ordered a recital 
of the commandments, with a short devotion between every one 
of them. The chrism, the use of the cross in consecrating the 
eucharist, prayers for the dead, and some expressions that fa- 
vored transubstantiation, were rejected, and the book was put in 
the same order and method as that in which it continues to this 
day, with the exception of some inconsiderable variations. A 



PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION. 69 

rubric was added to the office of the communion, explaining the 
reason of kneeling in it, that it was only as an expression of rev- 
erence and gratitude, upon the receiving so particular a mark of 
the favor of God : but that no adoration was intended by it, and 
that they did not think Christ was corporeally present in it. In 
queen Elizabeth's time this was omitted, that such as conformed 
in other respects, but still retained the belief of the corporeal 
presence, might not be offended at such a declaration : it was 
again inserted on the restoration of Charles II., for removing 
the scruples of those who excepted to that posture. 

At this time six of the most eminent preachers were appoint- 
ed to reside at court by turns, two at a time, and the other four 
were sent as itinerant preachers into all the counties of England, 
for supplying the defects of the clergy, who were generally very 
weak and faulty. 

The mass, which was still continued in lady Mary's chapel, 
was now again complained of. The court was less afraid of 
the emperor's displeasure than formerly, and therefore would 
no longer bear with so public a breach of the law : and the pro- 
mise they had made being but temporary, they thought they 
were not bound by it. But the emperor asserted that he had 
an absolute promise for that privilege being continued to her ; 
and this encouraged her so much, that when the council wrote 
to her, she answered, " she would follow the Catholic church, 
and adhere to her father's religion." A letter was then written 
in the king's name, requiring her " to obey the law, and not to 
pretend that the king was under age, since the late rebels had 
justified themselves by that." The way of worship then estab- 
lished was also vindicated, as most consonant to the word of 
God. But she refused to engage in. any disputes, and said she 
would continue in her former courses. 

When parliament assembled, the first act they passed was 
the established common praj^er book, as it was then amended. 
Another law was passed, by which it was enacted that " No 
days were to be esteemed holy in their own nature, but by rea- 
son of those holy duties which ought to be done in them, for 
which they were dedicated to the service of God. Days were 
esteemed to be dedicated only to the honor of God, even those 
in which the saints were commemorated; Sundays, and the 
other holy days, were to be religiously observed, and the bishops 
were to proceed to censures against offenders. The eves before 
them were to be fasts, and abstinence from flesh was ordered 
both in Lent, and on every Friday and Saturday." An act 
likewise passed for the marriage of the clergy, in which it was 



70 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

stated, " That whereas the former act about it was thought only 
a permission of it, as some other unlawful things were connived 
at ; upon which the wives and children of the clergy were re- 
proachfully used, and the word of God was not heard with due 
reverence ; therefore their marriages were declared good and 
valid. " The bishopric of Westminster was reunited to London, 
only the collegiate church was still continued. 

The convocation now confirmed the articles of religion which 
had been prepared the former year, and thus was the reforma- 
tion of worship and doctrine brought to such a degree of perfec- 
tion, that since that time there has been very little alteration 
made. Another branch of it was still unfinished, but was now 
under consultation, touching the government of the church and 
the ecclesiastical courts. This matter had been attempted seve- 
ral times during the last and present reigns ; but the changes 
in the government had caused it to be laid aside. It was now 
revived, and eight eminent bishops, and others, were appointed 
to draw up a plan, which was afterwards to be submitted to 
thirty-two commissioners. It was generally believed that Cran- 
mer drew it entirely by himself, while the others only corrected 
what he designed. Haddon and Cheek translated it into Latin, 
which they did with great ability. The work was divided into 
fifty-one titles ; and being laid before the commissioners, was 
by them to have been presented to the king for his confirma- 
tion ; but he died before it was quite finished, nor was it ever 
afterwards resumed. 

About this time the dilapidated state of the church revenues 
engaged the attention of the council, but so many persons of 
power and influence were interested to prevent a remedy being 
afforded, that the affair was dropped. In every see, as it became 
vacant, the best manors were laid hold of by such hungry cour- 
tiers as could procure the grant of them. They seemed to 
think, that the bishops' sees were so rich that they could never 
be made poor enough : but they were soon reduced to so low a 
condition that it was hardly possible for a bishop to subsist in 
them. If what had been thus taken from them had been con- 
verted to good uses, such as the maintenance of the poor and 
inferior clergy, it would have been some excuse for the vio- 
lence ; but the lands were laid hold of by laymen, who made no 
compensation for the spoils thus gained by them. 

This year the reformation had gained more ground in Ireland 
than formerly. Henry VIII. had assumed to himself, by con- 
sent of the parliament of that kingdom, the title of king of it; 
the former kings of England having only been called lords of 



PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION. 71 

Ireland ; and though they were obeyed within the English pale, 
yet the natives of Ireland continued barbarous and uncivilized, 
were governed entirely by the heads of their names or tribes, 
and were obedient or rebellious, as they directed them. 

The reformation was set on foot in the English pale, but 
made small progress among the Irish. At length Bale was 
sent over to labor among them. He was an eager writer, and 
a learned and zealous man. Goodacre was made primate of 
Armagh, and Bale was to be bishop of Ossory. Two Irishmen 
were also promoted with them ; who undertook to advance 
the reformation there. The archbishop of Dublin intended 
to have ordained them by the old pontifical, and all, except 
Bale, were willing it should be so, but he prevailed that it 
should be done according to the new book of ordinations : he 
then went into his diocese, but found all there in dark popery, 
and before he could make any progress the king's death put an 
end to his designs. 

The world had long been anxiously looking for the result of 
the council of Trent, trusting that it might lead to the establish- 
ment of order throughout the European countries, and it ap- 
peared no less to have been desired both by princes and bishops, 
in hopes that differences of religion would have been composed, 
and the corruptions of the court of Rome reformed, by it. This 
had made the pope very apprehensive of it : but such was the 
cunning of the legates, the number of Italian bishops, and the 
dissensions of the princes, that it had effects quite contrary to 
what all parties expected. The breach in religion was made 
past reconciling by the positive decisions of the council : the 
abuses of the court of Rome were confirmed by the provisoes 
made in favor of the privileges of the apostolic see : and all 
men were at length so cured of their longings for a general 
council, that none has been since that time desired. The his- 
tory of that council was written with great exactness and judg- 
ment by father Paul of Venice, while it was yet fresh in all 
men's memories ; and though it discovered the whole secret of 
the transactions there, yet no one ventured to contradict it for 
forty years : till Pallavicini at last undertook it, and, upon the 
credit of memorials, he, in many things, contradicts father 
Paul: but, in the principal events of the history, they both 
agree so far, that it is manifest things were not fairly con- 
ducted, and that all matters were managed by intrigues and 
secret practices. 

Prince Maurice declared for the liberty of Germany, and took 
Augsburgh, and several other towns. The king of France also 



72 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

entered th,e empire with a large army, and by surprise made 
himself master of Metz, Toul and Verdun. 

Maurice demanded that the landgrave should be set at liber- 
ty, and that freedom of religious worship should be secured 
throughout the empire. The emperor being slow in making 
answer, the prince marched on to Inspruck, where he surprised 
a post, and was within two miles of Charles before he was 
aware of his approach ; so that he was obliged to escape by 
torch light, and went to Italy. Thus the very army and prince 
that had been chiefly instrumental in the ruin of the empire, 
now asserted its freedom ; and all the emperor's great designs 
were frustrated, he was forced to discharge his prisoners, to re- 
call his proscriptions, and, after some treaty, to grant the edict 
of Passau, by which the free exercise of the Protestant religion 
was granted to the princes and towns : and thus that storm 
which had almost overwhelmed the princes of the Protestant 
religion, subsided, without any considerable effect, except the 
transference of the electoral dignity from John to Maurice. 

The emperor's misfortunes increased ; for, against all reason, 
he besieged Metz in December, but after he had lost almost 
the whole of his army in the siege, he was forced to raise it. 
Upon that he retired into Flanders in such discontent, that for 
some time he would not admit any to approach him. Here, it 
was believed, he first formed that design, which some years 
after he put in execution, of forsaking the world, and exchang- 
ing the pomp of a court for the retirement of a monastery. 
This strange and unlooked-for turn in his affairs gave a great 
demonstration of an overruling Providence that governs all 
human affairs, and of that particular care that God had of the 
reformation, in recovering it, when it seemed to be lost beyond 
all hope, in Germany. 

In the year 1553, another visitation took place in England. 
The visiters were sent to examine what plate was in every 
church, with orders to leave only one or two chalices of silver, 
with linen for the communion-table and for surplices, and to 
bring in all other things of value to the treasurer of the king's 
household. 

We now draw to the conclusion of the reign of this youthful 
king ; who while he was a child in age was a man in wisdom. 

He had contracted great colds by violent exercises, which, in 
January, settled into so obstinate a cough that all the skill of the 
physicians and the aid of medicine proved ineffectual. There 
was a suspicion over all Europe that he was poisoned ; but no 
certain grounds appear for justifying it. 



PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION. 73 

During* his sickness Ridley preached before him, and among 
other things spoke much on works of charity, and the duty of 
men of high condition to be eminent in good works. The king 
was much touched with this ; and after the sermon he sent for 
the bishop, and treated him with such respect, that he made him 
sit down and be covered : he then told him what impression his 
exhortation had made on him, and therefore he desired to be 
directed by him how to do his duty in that matter. 

Ridley took a little time to consider of it, and after some 
consultation with the lord mayor and aldermen of London, he 
brought the king a scheme of several foundations ; one for the 
sick and wounded, another for such as were wilfully idle, or 
were mad ; and a third for orphans. Edward, acting on this 
suggestion, endowed St. Bartholomew's hospital for the first, 
Bridewell for the second, and Christ's hospital, near Newgate, 
for the third ; and he enlarged the grant which he had made 
the year before for St. Thomas's hospital, in Southwark. The 
statutes and warrants relating to these were not finished till the 
26th of June, though he gave orders to make all the haste that 
was possible : and when he set his hand to them, he blessed 
God for having prolonged his life till he had finished his designs 
concerning them. These houses have, by the good government 
and the great charities of the city of London, continued to be so 
useful, and grown to be so well endowed, that now they may 
be reckoned among the noblest of Europe. 

On the 6th of July, the king felt the approach of death, and 
prepared himself for it in a most devout manner. He was often 
heard offering up prayers and ejaculations to God : particularly, 
a few moments before he died he prayed earnestly that the Lord 
would take him out of this wretched life, and committed his 
spirit to him ; he interceded very fervently for his subjects, that 
God would preserve England from popery, and maintain his 
true religion among them. The last words he uttered were 
these, " I am faint ; Lord, have mercy upon me, and take my 
spirit." Soon after that he breathed out his innocent soul in 
Sir Henry Sydney's arms. 



ACCESSION OF QUEEN MARY, SUBVERSION OF RELIGION, 
AND PERSECUTIONS OF THE CHURCH OF ENG- 
LAND DURING HER REIGN. 



CHAPTER I. 

We now call the attention of the British Protestants to a 
period of their church history, that cannot fail to awaken in 
their hearts that love for their ancestors, which, at present, we 
fear, lies dormant in too many. A long career of ease appears 
to have obliterated from their minds the troubles of their gene- 
rous forefathers, who, for them, bled in every vein — for them, 
were consigned to the devouring flames in every part of their 
country ; preparing and establishing for their descendants, by 
the sacrifice of themselves, political and religious liberty. And, 
while we behold, with gratitude and admiration, the effects of 
their noble self-devotion, let us thence learn to appreciate those 
blessings which, by the continued providence of God, we have 
so long enjoyed ; and let us be confirmed more and more in oar 
determination to resist every attempt, whether by open force or 
secret fraud, to deprive us and our descendants of the privileges 
so dearly purchased. 

It has been asserted by the Roman Catholics, " That all those 
who suffered death, during the reign of queen Mary, had been 
adjudged guilty of high treason, in consequence of their rising 
in defence of lady Jane Grey's title to the crown." To disprove 
this, however, is no difficult matter, since every one conversant 
in English history must know, that those who are found 
guilty of high treason are to be hanged and quartered. But 
how can even a papist affirm, that ever a man in England was 
burned for high treason ? We admit, that some few suffered 
death in the ordinary way of process at common law, for their 
adherence to lady Jane ; but none of those were burned. Why, 
if traitors, were they taken before the bishops, who have no 
power to judge in criminal cases ? Even allowing the bishops 
to have had power to judge, yet their own bloody statute did 
not empower them to execute. The proceedings against the 
martyrs are still extant, and they are carried on directly accord- 



ACCESSION OF MARY. 75 

ing to the forms prescribed by their own statute. Not one of 
those who were burned in England was ever accused of high 
treason, much less were they tried at common law. And this 
should teach the reader to value a history of transactions in his 
own country, particularly as it relates to the sufferings of the 
blessed martyrs in defence of the religion he professes, in order 
that he may be able to remove the veil which falsehood has cast 
over the face of truth. Having said thus much, by w T ay of 
introduction, we shall proceed with the Acts and Monuments of 
the British Martyrs. 

By the death king Edward, the crown devolved, according to 
law, on his eldest sister Mary, who was within half a day's 
journey to the court, when she had notice given her by the earl 
of Arundel, of her brother's death, and of the patent for lady 
Jane's succession. Upon this she retired to Framlingham, in 
Suffolk, to be near the sea, that she might escape to Flanders, 
in case of necessity. Before she arrived there, she wrote, on 
the 9th of July, to the council, telling them, that " she under- 
stood that her brother was dead, by which she succeeded to the 
crown, but wondered that she heard not from them; she well 
understood what consultations they had engaged in, but she 
would pardon all such as would return to their duty, and 
proclaim her title to the crown." 

It was now found that the king's death could be no longer 
kept a secret ; accordingly some of the .privy council went to 
lady Jane, and acknowledged her as their queen.^ The news 
of the king's death afflicted her much, and her being raised to 
the throne rather increased than lessened her trouble. She was 
a person of extraordinary abilities, acquirements, and virtues. 
She w T as mistress both of the Greek and Latin tongues, and de- 
lighted much in study. As she was not tainted with the levities 
which usually accompany her age and station, so she seemed to 
have attained to the practice of the highest fortitude ; for in those 
sudden turns of her condition, as she was not exalted with the 
prospect of a crown, so she was little cast down when her palace 
was made her prison. The only passion she showed was that 
of the noblest kind, in the concern she expressed for her father 
and husband, who fell with her, and seemingly on her account ; 
though, in reality, Northumberland's ambition, and her father's 
weakness, ruined her. 

* The lady Jane was daughter of the duke of Suffolk, and grand- 
daughter to Mary, sister to Henry VIII., who, on the death of her first 
husband, the king of France, married Charles Brandon, afterwards cre- 
ated duke of Suffolk. 



76 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

She rejected the crown when it was first offered her ; she 
said, she knew that of right it belonged to the late king's sisters, 
and therefore could not, with a good conscience, assume it ; but 
she was told, that both the judges and privy counsellors had 
declared that it fell to her according to law. This, joined with 
the importunities of her husband, her father, and father-in-law, 
made her submit. Upon this, twenty-one privy counsellors set 
their hands to a letter to Mary, telling her that queen Jane was 
now their sovereign, and that as the marriage between her 
father and mother had been declared null, so she could not suc- 
ceed to the crown : they therefore required her to lay down her 
pretensions, and to submit to the settlement now made ; and if 
she gave a ready obedience, promised her much favor. The 
day after this, they proclaimed Jane. 

Northumberland's known enmity to the late duke of Somer- 
set, and the suspicions of his being the author of Edward's 
untimely death, begot a great aversion in the people to him and 
his family, and disposed them to favor Mary ; who, in the mean 
time, was very active in raising forces to support her claim. 
To attach the Protestants to her cause, she promised not to 
make any change in the reformed worship, as established under 
her brother ; and on this assurance a large body of the men of 
Suffolk joined her standard. 

Northumberland was now perplexed between his wish to as- 
sume the command of -an army raised to oppose Mary, and his 
fear of leaving London to the government of the council, of 
whose fidelity he entertained great doubts. He was, however, 
at length obliged tq adopt the latter course, and before his de- 
parture from the metropolis he adjured the members of the 
council, and all persons in authority, to be steadfast in their 
attachment to the cause of queen Jane, on whose success, he 
assured them, depended the continuance of the Protestant 
religion in England. They promised all he required, and 
he departed, encouraged by their protestations and apparent zeal. 

Mary's party in the mean time continued daily to augment. 
Hastings went over to her with four thousand men out of Buck- 
inghamshire, and she was proclaimed queen in many places. 
At length the privy council began to see their danger, and to 
think how to avoid it ; and besides fears for their personal safe- 
ty, other motives operated with many of the members. To 
make their escape from the Tower, where they were detained, 
ostensibly to give dignity to the court of queen Jane, but really 
as prisoners, they pretended it was necessary to give an audience 
to the foreign ambassadors, who would not meet them in the 



ACCESSION OF MARY. 77 

Tower : and the earl of Pembroke's house was appointed for 
the audience. 

When they met there they resolved to declare for queen 
Mary, and rid themselves of Northumberland's yoke, which 
they knew they must bear if he were victorious. They sent 
for the lord mayor and aldermen, and easily gained their con- 
currence ; and Mary was proclaimed queen on the 19th of July. 
They then sent to the Tower, requiring the duke of Suffolk to 
quit the government of that place, and the lady Jane to lay 
down the title of queen. To this she submitted with much 
greatness of mind, and her father with abjectness. 

The council next sent orders to Northumberland to dismiss 
his forces, and to obey the queen. When Northumberland 
heard this, he disbanded his forces, went to the market-place at 
Cambridge, where he then was, and proclaimed Mary as queen. 
The earl of Arundel was sent to apprehend him, and when 
Northumberland was brought before him, he, in the most servile 
manner, fell at his feet -to beg his favor. He, with three of his 
sons and Sir Thomas Palmer, (his wicked tool in the destruc- 
tion of the duke of Somerset,) were all sent to the Tower. 

Every one now flocked to implore the queen's favor, and 
Ridley among the rest ; but he was committed to the Tower, 
the queen being resolved to put Bonner again in the see of 
London. Some of the judges, and several noblemen, were also 
sent thither, among the rest the duke of Suffolk; who was, 
however, three days after, set at liberty. He was a weak 
man, could do little harm, and was consequently selected as 
the first person towards whom the queen should exert her 
clemency. 

Mary came to London on the 3d of August, and on the way 
was met by her sister, lady Elizabeth, with a thousand horse, 
whom she had raised to assist the queen. On arriving at the 
Tower, she liberated the duke of Norfolk, the duchess of Som- 
erset, and Gardiner ; also the lord Courtney, son to the marquis 
of Exeter, who had been kept there ever since his father's 
attainder, and whom she now made earl of Devonshire. 

Thus was seated on the throne of England the lady Mary, 
who, to a disagreeable person and weak mind, united bigotry, 
superstition, and cruelty. She seems to have inherited more 
of her mother's than her father's qualities. Henry was impa- 
tient, rough, and ungovernable ; but Catharine, while she as- 
sumed the character of a saint, harbored inexorable rancor and 
hatred against the Protestants. It was the same with her 
daughter Mary, as appears from a letter in her own hand- 
7* 



78 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS, 

writing, now in the British Museum. In this letter, which is 
addressed to bishop Gardiner, she declares her fixed intention 
of burning every Protestant ; and there is an insinuation, that 
as soon as circumstances would permit, she would restore back 
to the church the lands that had been taken from the convents. 
This was the greatest instance of her weakness that she could 
show ; for, in the first place, the convents had been all demo- 
lished, except a few of their churches ; and the rents were in 
the hands of the first nobility, who, rather than part with them, 
would have overturned the government both in church and 
state. 

Mary was crowned at Westminster in the usual form ; but 
dreadful were the consequences that followed. The narrowness 
of spirit which always distinguishes a weak mind from one that 
has been enlarged by education, pervaded all the actions of this 
princess. Unacquainted with the constitution of tbe country, 
and a slave to superstition, she thought to domineer over the 
rights of private judgment, and trample on the privileges of 
mankind. 

The first exertion of her regal power was to wreak her ven- 
geance upon all those who had supported the title of lady Jane 
Grey. The first of these was the duke of Northumberland, 
who was beheaded on Tower hill, and who, in consequence of 
his crimes, arising from ambition, died unpitied; nay, he was 
even taunted on the scaffold by the spectators, who knew in 
what manner he had acted to the good duke of Somerset. 

The other executions that followed were numerous indeed, 
but as they were all upon the statute of high treason, they can* 
not, with any degree of propriety, be applied to Protestants, or, 
as they were then called, heretics. The parliament was pliant 
enough to comply with all the queen's requests, and an act 
passed to establish the popish religion. This Was what the 
queen waited for, and power being now put into her hands, 
she was determined to exercise it in the most arbitrary manner. 
She was destitute of human compassion, and without the least 
reluctance could tyrannize over the consciences of men. 

This leads us to the conclusion of the first year of her reign ; 
and we consider it the more necessary to take notice of these 
transactions, although not, strictly speaking, martyrdoms, that 
our readers might be convinced of the great difference there is 
between dying for religion, and for high treason. It is history 
alone that can teach them such things, and it is reflection only 
that can make history useful. We frequently read without re- 
flection, and study without consideration; but the following 



REV. JOHN ROGERS. ?9 

portions of our history, in particular, will furnish ample materia 
als for serious thought to our readers, and we entreat their 
attention to them* 



CHAPTER II. 

Martyrdoms in the Second Year of Queen Mary's Reign* 

The queen having satiated her malice upon those persons 
who had adhered to lady Jane Grey, she had next recourse to 
those old auxiliaries of popery, fire, fagot, and the stake, in 
order to convert her heretical subjects to the true Catholic faith. 

Mr. John Rogers, the aged minister of St. Sepulchre's 
church, Snow hill, London, was the protomartyr : he was the first 
sacrifice, strictly speaking, offered up in this reign of popery, and 
led the way for those sufferers whose blood has been the foun- 
dation, honor, and glory, of the church of England. 

This Mr. Rogers had been some time chaplain to the English 
factory at Antwerp. There he became acquainted with Mr. 
Tindal, and assisted him in his translation of the New Testa* 
ment. There Were several other worthy Protestants there at 
that time, most of whom had been driven out of England, on 
account of the persecutions for the six articles in the latter end 
of the reign of Henry VIII. Mr. Rogers, knowing that mar- 
riage was lawful, and even enjoined in scripture, entered into 
that state with a virtuous woman, and soon after set out for 
Saxony, in consequence of an invitation to that effect. 

When Edward ascended the throne of England, Mr. Rogers 
returned to his native country, and was promoted by bishop 
Ridley to a prebendary of St. Paul's. He was also appointed 
reader of the divinity lecture in that cathedral, and vicar of St. 
Sepulchre's. 

In this situation he continued for some years : and as queen 
Mary was returning from the Tower, where she had been im- 
bibing Gardiner's pernicious counsels, Mr. Rogers was preach- 
ing at St. Paul's Cross. He inveighed much against popery, 
expatiated on the many virtues of the late king Edward, and 
exhorted the people to abide in the Protestant religion. For this 
sermon he was summoned before the council; but he vindicated 
himself so well that he was dismissed. 

This lenity shown by the council was rather displeasing to 
the queen; and Mr. Rogers's zeal against popery being equal 



80 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

to his knowledge and integrity, he was considered as a person 
who would prevent the re-establishment of popery. For this 
reason it was that he was summoned a second time before the 
council; and although there were many papists among the 
members, yet such was the respect almost universally felt for 
Mr. Rogers, that he was again dismissed, but was commanded 
not to go out of his own house. This order he complied with, 
although he might have made his escape if he would. He 
knew he could have a living in Germany, and he had a wife 
and ten children : but all these things did not move him ; he 
did not court death, but met it with fortitude when it came. 

He remained confined in his own house several weeks, till,^ 
Bonner, bishop of London, procured an order to have him com-^ ; 
mitted to Newgate, where he was lodged among thieves and 
murderers. 

He was afterwards brought a third time before the council, 
where Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, presided. 

The questions asked him were of a very frivolous nature, 
but still they were such, that answers to them served to crimi- 
nate the man. He freely acknowledged, that he had been fully 
convinced in his own mind, that the pope was Antichrist, and 
that his religion was contrary to the gospel. 

He made a most elaborate defence, which, however, did not 
avail him in the minds of his persecutors. He showed them, 
that the statute upon which he was prosecuted, had never legally 
passed, and even if it had, it was in all respects contrary to the 
word of God : for whatever emoluments might have been be- 
stowed upon the clergy from time to time, they had no right to 
persecute those who differed from them in sentiment. 

After he had been examined several times before the council, 
which was a mere mockery of justice, he was turned over to 
Bonner, bishop of London, who caused him to go through a 
second mock examination ; and, at last, declared him to be an 
obstinate heretic. A certificate of this was, in the ordinary ** 
course, sent into chancery, and a writ was issued for the burn- 
ing of Mr. Rogers in Smithfield. This sentence did not in the 
least frighten our martyr, who, by faith in the blood of Christ, 
was ready to go through with his attachment to the truth, with- 
out paying any regard to the malice of his enemies. 

On the 4th of February, 1555, Mr. Rogers was taken out of 
Newgate, to be led to the place of execution, when the sheriff 
asked him if he would recant his opinions ? To this he answer- 
ed, " That what he had preached, he would seal with his blood/ 1 
" Then," said the sheriff, " thou art a heretic." To which 




Martyrdom of the Rev. John Rogers. A % D. J555. 




Cruel Torture of Dr. Tartar, March, 30th, 1565. 



REV. LAURENCE SAUNDERS. 81 

Mr. Rogers answered, " That will be known when we meet at 
the judgment-seat of Christ." 

As they were taking him to Smithfield, his wife and eleven 
children went to take their last farewell of a tender husband, 
and an indulgent parent. The sheriffs, however, would not 
permit them to speak to him ; so unfeeling is bigotry, so mer- 
ciless is superstition ! When he was chained to the stake, he 
declared that God would in his own good time vindicate the 
truth of what he had taught, and appear in favor of the Protes- 
tant religion. Fire was then set to the pile, and he was con- 
sumed to ashes. 

The next person who suffered in this reign, was the reverend 
Mr. Laurence Saunders, of whose former life we have collected 
the following particulars : his father had a considerable estate 
in Oxfordshire, but dying young, left a large family of children. 
Laurence was sent to Eton school as one of the king's scholars. 

From Eton he was, according to the rules of the foundation, 
sent to King's college in Cambridge, where he studied three 
years, and made great progress in the different sorts of learning 
then taught in the schools. At the end of the three years he 
left the university, and returning to his mother, prevailed upon 
her to place him with a merchant. 

He was accordingly articled to Sir William Chester, a rich 
merchant in London, who was afterwards sheriff of that city. 
He had not been long in this employment, when he became 
weary of a life of trade. He sunk into a deep melancholy, and 
afterwards went into a retired chamber, to mourn for his impru- 
dence, and to beg of God that he would, in some manner or 
other, deliver him from a life so disgustful. 

His master, who was a worthy man, took notice of this, and 
asked Saunders his reasons for being in that desponding condi- 
tion ? The young gentleman candidly told him : upon which 
he immediately gave him up his indentures, and sent him home 
to his relations. 

This Saunders considered as a happy event, and that no time 
might be lost, he returned to. his studies at Cambridge; and, 
what was very uncommon in that age, he learned the Greek 
and Hebrew languages. After this he devoted himself wholly 
to the study of the sacred scriptures, in order to qualify himself 
for preaching the gospel. 

In study he was diligent, and practical in holiness of life ; in 
doing good few equalled him, and he seemed to have nothing 
in view but the happiness of immortal souls. 

In the beginning of king Edward's reign, when the true reli- 



82 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

gion began to be countenanced, he entered into orders, and 
preached with great success. His first appointment was at 
Fotheringham, where he read a divinity lecture ; but that col- 
lege having been dissolved, he was appointed a preacher in 
Lichfield. 

After being some months in Lichfield, he removed to the 
living of Church-Langton, in Leicestershire : there he resided 
with his people, and instructed many who before were ignorant 
of the true principles of the Christian religion. 

His next removal was to Alhallows, in Bread-street, London ; 
and when he had taken possession of it, he went down to the 
country, to part, in an affectionate manner, with his friends. 

While he was in the country king Edward died, and Mary 
succeeding, published a proclamation, commanding all her sub- 
jects to attend mass. Many pious ministers refused to obey the 
royal proclamation, and none was more forward in doing so than 
Mr. Saunders. He continued to preach whenever he had an 
opportunity, and read the prayer-book, with the scriptures, to 
the people, till he was apprehended in the following manner : 

Mr. Saunders was advised to leave the nation, as pious Dr. 
Jewel and many others did ; but he would not, declaring to his 
friends, that he was willing to die for the name of the Lord 
Jesus. 

The next Sunday he preached in his church, and made a 
most elaborate discourse against the errors of popery ; he exhort- 
ed the people to remain steadfast in the truth ; not to fear those 
who can only kill the body, but to fear Him who can throw 
both body and soul into hell. He was attended by a great con- 
course of people, which gave much offence to the clergy, par- 
ticularly to bishop Bonner. 

No notice, however, was taken of him in the forenoon, but in 
the afternoon, when he intended to have preached again, Bonner 
sent an officer to apprehend him. 

Mr. Saunders was charged with treason and sedition, for 
having disobeyed the queen's proclamation ; but Bonner had 
other objects in view than that of bringing this man to a trial at 
common law. Heresy was the main charge he wished to punish 
him on. 

After much conversation on different points of religion, the 
bishop desired him to write his sentiments concerning transub- 
stantiation. To this request Mr. Saunders replied, " My lord, 
I know you want to ensnare me ; you seek for my blood, and 
you shall have it. Perhaps the reflection of taking my life 
without cause may bring you to a sense of guilt, and make you 
a better man." 



REV. LAURENCE SAUNDERS. 83 

The bishop, on this, sent Mr. Saunders, under the care of 
Sir John Mordant, to the house of the chancellor, who happened 
not to be at home ; so that he was obliged to wait for him four 
hours in the servants' hall. 

At length the chancellor arrived, and sending for Mr. Saun- 
ders into his chamber, asked him how he could be so bold as to 
disobey the queen's proclamation. Saunders acknowledged 
that " he had preached contrary to the proclamation, and that 
he thought it his duty to do so, even although it should cost 
him his life. He added, that what he did arose from the dic- 
tates of his heart, which commanded him to preach the gospel, 
in season and out of season ; and that he must be accountable at 
the judgment-seat of Christ, if he neglected any part of his duty 
in teaching and comforting his people in their most holy faith, 
so as to meet them on the right hand of the judge." 

The chancellor poured out much abuse on Mr. Saunders, 
telling him he was a hypocrite and a heretic, notwithstanding 
all his pretensions to a tender conscience. He accused him, 
further, of having called the queen a bastard, or rather worse, 
namely, that she had been born in a state of incest. 

It was well known that Henry's marriage with Catharine 
had been declared inconsistent with the canons of the church ; 
and, therefore, had Mr. Saunders called her by such names, he 
might, according to law, have sheltered himself under an act of 
parliament. But the truth is, he never traduced her character ; 
but in speaking to Gardiner he made use of a most severe sar- 
casm, by telling him that " there need not to be much dispute 
concerning this matter with his lordship, who had actually 
signed the declaration concerning the illegitimacy of Mary's 
birth." This was bringing the argument home to him ; but the 
severity of the satire augmented Gardiner's desire of revenge. 

Saunders told the chancellor, " he had no objection to suffer 
for that God who had given him courage to declare his senti- 
ments without fear, and would support him , under all sorts of 
afflictions ; and although he would never give intentional offence, 
yet he would not, by any means, injure his conscience, by giving 
up the truth as it was revealed in the word of God." 

Gardiner, upon this, remanded Mr. Saunders to prison ; but 
first told him he was out of his mind, and a disturbed madman, 
without the use of sense or reason. 

Saunders continued in prison a year and three months, during 
which time he wrote several letters to those great and worthy 
persons, who afterwards suffered for the truth. 

He was confined in the Marshalsea prison, and strict orders 



- Jfei 



84 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

were given to the keepers, not to suffer any person to converse 
with him. His wife, however, came to the prison with her 
young child in her arms,' and the keeper had so much compas- 
sion, that he took the child and carried it to its father. 

Mr. Saunders seeing the child, rejoiced greatly, saying, it 
was a peculiar happiness for him to have such a boy. And to 
the standers-by, who admired the beauty of the child, he said, 
"What man, fearing God, would not lose his life, sooner than 
have it said that the mother of this child was a harlot ?" 

He said these words, in order to point out the woful effects of 
popish celibacy; for the priests, being denied the privilege of 
marriage, seduced the wives and daughters of many of the laity, 
and filled the nation with bastards, who were left exposed to all 
sorts of hardships. 

After all these afflictions and sufferings, Mr. Saunders was 
brought before the council, where the chancellor sat as president ; 
and there he was asked a great number of questions concerning 
his opinions. These questions were proposed in so artful and 
ensnaring a manner, that the prisoner, by telling the truth, must 
criminate himself; and to have stood mute would have subject- 
ed him to the torture. 

Under such circumstances, God gave him fortitude to assert 
the truth, by declaring his abhorrence of all the doctrines of 
popery. 

The chancellor ordered him to be excommunicated, and com- 
mitted him to the Compter. This was a great comfort to him, 
because he was visited by many of his people, whom he exhort- 
ed to constancy ; and when they were denied admittance, he 
spoke to them through the grate. 

On the 4th of February the sheriff of London delivered him 
to the bishop, who degraded him ; and Mr. Saunders said, 
" Thank God, I am now out of your church." 

The day following, he was given up to some of the queen's 
officers, who were appointed to convey him down to Coventry, 
there to be burned. The first night they lay at St. Alban's, 
where Mr. Saunders took an opportunity of rebuking a person 
who had ridiculed the Christian faith. 

The same night he spent in the common prison, praying for 
and exhorting all those who went to hear him. 

The next day, which was the 8th of February, he was led to 
the place of execution, in the Park without the gate of that 
city, going in an old gown and a shirt, barefooted, and often 
fell on the ground and prayed. When he approached the place 
of execution, the under-sheriff told him he was a heretic, and 



BISHOP HOOPER. 85 

that he had led the people away from the true religion ; but yet, 
if he would recant, the queen would pardon him. To this Mr. 
Saunders answered, " That he had not filled the realm with 
heresy, for he had taught the people the pure truths of the 
gospel ; and in all his sermons, while he exhorted the people 
firmly, desired his hearers to be obedient to the queen." 

When brought to the stake he embraced it, and after being 
fastened to it, and the fagots lighted, he said, " Welcome the 
cross of Christ, w T elcome everlasting life;"soon after which he 
resigned his soul into the hands of him who gave it. 

Well might the apostle say, that if we only in this life have 
hope, we are, of all men, the most miserable. This martyr was 
naturally of a timid disposition ; and yet here we see with what 
constancy he died. This is a strong proof that there must be 
an almighty power, working through faith in the hearts of those 
who are punished for the truth. 



CHAPTER III. 

Sufferings and Martyrdom of Bishop Hooper. 

We have seen, in our account of the pious Mr. Saunders, 
that a man by nature weak and timorous, could bear, with an 
undaunted boldness, all those torments which were prepared for 
him by his enemies^and by the enemies of Christ Jesus ; and 
we have seen that gracious Being, for whose name's sake he 
suifered, supporting him under all his afflictions. 

We shall now bring forth another martyr, whose name will 
ever be esteemed for his sincere attachment to the Protestant 
religion, and for the little regard he paid to ceremonies, about 
which there has been much unnecessary, and indeed angry 
contention. 

Trie person to whom we allude was Dr. John Hooper, a 
man of eminence in his profession. He was educated in Ox- 
ford, but in what college does not appear, probably it was in 
Queen's college, because he was a north countryman, that semi- 
nary of learning being appropriated for those of the northern 
counties. 

He made a great progress in his studies, and was remarkable 
for early piety. He studied the sacred scriptures with the most 
8 



86 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

unremitting assiduity, and was, for some time, an ornament to 
the university. 

His spirit was fervent, and he hated every thing in religion 
that was not of an essential nature. When the six articles were 
published, Hooper did all he could to oppose them, as main- 
taining every thing in the popish system, except the supremacy. 
He preached frequently against them, which created him many 
enemies in Oxford ; but Henry VIII. had such an opinion of 
him, that he would not suffer him to be molested. Soon after 
this he was obliged to leave the university, and assuming a lay 
character, became steward to Sir Thomas Arundel, who, at first, 
treated him with great kindness, till, having discovered his sen- 
timents as to religion, he became his most implacable enemy. 

Mr. Hooper having received intelligence that some mischief 
was intended against him, left the house of Sir Thomas Arun- 
del, and borrowing a horse from a friend, whose life he had 
saved, rode off towards the sea-side, intending to go to France, 
sending back the horse by a servant. He resided some time at 
Paris, in as private a manner as possible. Eeturning again to 
England he was informed against, and obliged to leave his na- 
tive country a second time. 

He went over again to France, but not being safe there, he 
traveled into Germany ; from thence he went to Basil, where 
he married a pious woman, and afterwards settled some time at 
Zurich, in Switzerland : there he applied closely to his studies, 
and made himself master of the Hebrew language. 

At length, when the true religion was set up after the death 
of king Henry VIII. , amongst other English exiles that returned 
was Mr. Hooper. In the most grateful manner he returned 
thanks to all his friends abroad, who had shown him so much 
compassion ; particularly to the learned Bullinger, who was a 
great friend to all those who were persecuted for the gospel. 
When he took an affectionate leave of Bullinger, he told him 
that he would write to him as often as he could find an oppor- 
tunity, but added, " probably I shall be burned to ashes, and 
then some friend will give you information. " 

When Dr. Hooper arrived in London, he was so much filled 
with zeal to promote the gospel, that he preached every day to 
crowded congregations. In his sermons he reproved sinners in 
general, but particularly directed his discourse against the pecu- 
liar vices of the times. 

The abuses he complained of were owing to a variety of 
causes : the nobility had got the church-lands, and the clergy 
were not only seditious in their conduct, but ignorant even to a 



BISHOP HOOPER. 87 

proverb. This occasioned a scene of general immorality among 
all ranks and degrees of people, which furnished pious men 
with sufficient matter for reproof. 

In his doctrine, Hooper was clear, plain, eloquent, and per- 
suasive, and so much followed by all ranks of people, that the 
churches could not contain them. 

After he had preached some time, with great success, in the 
city, he was sent for by Edward VI., who appointed him one 
of his chaplains, and soon after made him bishop of Gloucester, 
by letters-patent under the great seal ; having at the same time 
the care of the bishopric of Worcester committed to him. 

Bishop Hooper continued to discharge his duty as a faithful 
pastor, during the whole of king Edward's reign. But no 
sooner was Mary proclaimed, than a serjeant-at-arms was sent 
to arrest our bishop, in order to answer to two charges : 

First, to Dr. Heath, who had been deprived of the diocese 
of Gloucester for his adherence to popery, but was now re- 
stored by the queen : secondly, to Dr. Bonner, bishop of Lon- 
don, for having given evidence to king Edward against that 
persecuting prelate. 

Bishop Hooper was desired, by some of his friends, to make 
his escape, but his answer was, "I once fled for my life, but I 
am now determined, through the strength and grace of God, to 
witness the truth to the last." 

Being brought before the queen and council, Gardiner, sitting 
as president, accused bishop Hooper of heresy, calling him by 
the most opprobrious names. This was in September, 1553, 
and although he satisfactorily answered the charges brought 
against him, he was committed to prison on the pretence of 
being indebted to the queen in several sums of money. On the 
19th of March, 1554, when he was called again to appear before 
Gardiner, the chancellor, and several other bishops, would not 
suffer him to plead his cause, but deprived him of his bishopric. 

Being asked whether he was a married man, he answered in 
the affirmative, and declared that he would not be unmarried, 
till death occasioned the separation ; because he looked upon the 
marriage of the clergy as necessary and legal. 

The more they attempted to browbeat him, the more resolute 
he became, and the more pertinent in his answers. He pro- 
duced the decrees of the council of Nice, which first ascertained 
the canon of scripture, where it was ordained to be lawful, as 
well as expedient, for the clergy to marry. These arguments 
were to little purpose with men who had their instructions from 
the queen, and were previously determined to punish him ; the 



88 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

good bishop was therefore committed to the Tower, but after- 
wards removed to the Fleet. 

After he had been eighteen months in prison, on the 22d of 
January, 1555, the warden of the Fleet was ordered to bring 
him before the chancellor Gardiner, who, with other bishops, 
were appointed to examine him a second time, at Gardiner's 
palace in Southwark. 

When brought before these merciless persecutors, the chan- 
cellor made a long speech to him, desiring him to forsake the 
opinions he had embraced, and return to the bosom of the church ; 
adding, that as the pope was the head of the church, so it was 
breaking through her unity to separate from her. He promised 
to procure him the pope's absolution if he would recant his 
opinions ; but this was merely an ostentatious pretence to mercy ; 
for Gardiner knew, that Hooper was too well grounded in his 
religious opinions to comply with his request. 

To this Dr. Hooper answered, that as the pope's doctrine was 
contrary to the sacred scriptures, and as he could not be the 
head of the church, because there was no head of it but Christ, 
so he would live and die asserting the doctrines he had taught. 

Gardiner replied, that the queen would never show any mer- 
cy to the enemies of the pope ; whereupon Babington, the war- 
den, was commanded to take him back to the Fleet. It was 
likewise ordered, that he should be shifted from his former 
chamber, which was done ; and he was searched, to find, if 
possible, whether he had any books concealed about him, but 
none were found. 

On the 25th of January he was again brought before the 
chancellor to be examined, and was again asked whether or not 
he would recant ; but nothing could shake his constancy. 

On Monday morning, February 4, the bishop of London went 
to the prison to degrade him, which thing was done in the usual 
form, by putting the different robes upon him worn by priests, 
and then taking them off. They did not put on him the bishop's 
robes, because they did not admit of the validity of his ordina- 
tion. While they were stripping him of these Romish rags, he 
told them he was glad to part with them, because his mind had 
been always against them, and considered them as no better 
than heathenish relics ; as in fact they were, for the same kind 
of robes were worn by the priests before the time of Constantine 
the Great. 

A few hours after he was degraded, the keeper came to him, 
and told him he was to be sent down to Gloucester to suffer 
death* Upon this he lifted up his eyes and hands to heaven, 



SISHOP HOOPER. 89 

praising God that he was to die among his people, as it would 
be the means of confirming them in the truth of what he had 
taught them. He immediately sent to his servant for his boots 
and cloak, that he might be in readiness to attend the officers 
whenever they should come for him. 

About four in the morning he was taken out of prison by the 
sheriff, and conducted to the sign of the Angel, near St. Dun- 
stan's church, Fleet-street. There he was received by the 
queen's officers, who had the warrant for his execution ; after 
which they permitted him to take some refreshment. 

About break of day he cheerfully mounted on horseback 
without help, having a hood on his head under his hat, that he 
should not be known ; and thus equipped, with a serene and 
cheerful countenance, proceeded on the road for Gloucester, at- 
tended by his keepers. The guards asked him what houses he 
was accustomed to use on the road ; and when they were in- 
formed, in order to perplex him, they took him to others. 

On the Thursday following they arrived at Cirencester, a 
town in his own diocese, and about eleven miles from Glouces- 
ter, where they dined at the house of a woman who had always 
hated the Protestants, and traduced bishop Hooper's character as 
much as possible. This woman, seeing his constancy, was so 
affected, that she lamented his case with tears, and begged his 
pardon for the manner in which she had spoken of him. 

Dinner being over, they proceeded to Gloucester, where they 
arrived about five in the afternoon. A great crowd of people 
were assembled about a mile without the town ; so that one of 
the guard, fearing a rescue, rode up to the mayor's house, to 
demand aid and assistance. This being granted, the people 
dispersed. 

Hooper was that night lodged in the house of one Ingram, 
where he ate his supper with a good appetite, and slept very 
quietly, as the guard declared, for they continued in the cham- 
ber with him all the night. In the morning he got up, and 
having prayed most fervently, was visited by Sir Anthony 
Kingston, who was one of the persons appointed to see him ex- 
ecuted. When Sir Anthony came into the chamber he found 
him at his prayers, and waiting till he had done, asked if he did 
not know him. To this bishop Hooper answered, that he did 
know him, and was glad to see him in good health. He added, 
that he was come there to end his life, and blessed God that it 
was to be in the midst of his own diocese. He said he loved 
life as well as it ought to be loved, but he was not to enjoy it at 
the expense of his future welfare. He was not to blaspheme his 
8* 






90 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

Savior by denying his name, through which alone he looked for 
salvation ; but trusted that he should be endowed with fortitude 
sufficient to bear all the torments his enemies could inflict upon 
him* 

The time appointed for the execution of this pious bishop 
drawing nigh, he was delivered to the sheriffs of Gloucester, 
who, with the mayor and aldermen, repaired to his lodgings, 
and at the first meeting, having saluted him, took him by the 
hand. The resigned martyr thanked the mayor, with the rest 
of the officers, for taking a condemned man by the hand, and 
for all the friendship that had formerly subsisted between them, 
for he had long been acquainted with them. He begged of the 
sheriffs that they would make the fire as violent as possible, that 
his pains might be of the shorter duration; adding, that he 
might have had his life if he chose it, but could not, consistently 
with that duty he owed to God, and his own conscience. He 
said, he knew the bishop of Rome was Antichrist, and therefore 
he could not be obedient to him. He desired they would not 
deny his request, but let him suffer as soon as possible, without 
exercising any unnecessary cruelty, which was unbecoming the 
dignity of men of honor. 

When bishop Hooper arose in the morning, he desired that 
no person whatever should disturb him in his devotions, till the 
officers came to lead him out to execution. 

About eight o'clock, the lord Chandois, attended by several 
other noblemen and gentlemen, came to conduct him to the place 
of execution ; and at nine, Dr. Hooper was ready. Being brought 
down from his chamber, when he saw the guards, he told the 
sheriffs he was no traitor, but one who was willing to die for 
the truth ; and that if they would have permitted him, he would 
have willingly gone unguarded to the stake without troubling 
any officers. Afterwards, looking upon the multitude of people 
that were assembled, above seven thousand in number, he said, 
" Alas ! why are so many people assembled ? I dare not speak 
to them as formerly." 

He was led forward between the two sheriffs, as a lamb to the 
slaughter, having on a gown which the man of the house, where 
he was confined, had lent him ; and being much afflicted with 
an illness he had contracted in prison, he was obliged to walk 
with a staff in his hand. The sheriffs having commanded him 
not to speak one word, he was not seen to open his mouth, but 
beholding the people, who mourned bitterly, he sometimes lifted 
up his eyes towards heaven, and looked cheerfully upon such as 
he knew ; and, indeed, his countenance was more cheerful than 
it had been for a I0112: time before. 



DR. ROWLAND TAYLOR. 91 

When he was brought to the stake, he embraced it, and look- 
ed smilingly at a place where he used formerly to preach. He 
then kneeled down to pray, and beckoned several times to one 
whom he knew well, to come near to hear him, that he might 
give a faithful account of what he said, after his death, as he 
was not permitted to speak aloud. When he had been some 
time at prayer, a pardon was brought, and offered to him, on 
condition that he would recant; but neither promises of pardon, 
nor threatening of punishment, had any effect on him; so im- 
movable was he in the faith, and so well established in the 
principles of the gospel. 

Prayers being ended, he prepared himself for the stake, by 
taking off his landlord's gown, which he delivered to the sheriffs, 
requesting them to see it restored to the owner. He then took 
off the rest of his clothes, except his doublet and hose, in which 
he intended to be burned ; but the sheriffs not permitting that, 
he patiently submitted. After this, a pound of gunpowder was 
placed between his legs, and the same quantity under each arm ; 
three chains were then fixed round him, one to his neck, another 
to his middle, and a third to his legs ; and with these he was 
fastened to the stake. 

This being done, fire was put to the fagots ; but they being 
green, he suffered inexpressible torment. Soon after this, a load 
of dry fagots was brought, but still the wind blew away the 
flames ; so that he begged for more, that he might be put out 
of his misery. 

At length the fire took effect, and the martyr triumphantly 
ascended into heaven, after such a fiery trial as almost exceeds 
any thing we meet with in the primitive ages. His last words 
were, " Lord Jesus, have mercy upon me ; enable me to bear 
my sufferings for thy name's sake, and receive my spirit." 



CHAPTER IV. 

Sufferiiigs and Martyrdom of Dr. Rowland Taylor. 

Dr. Rowland Taylor was born in the town of Hadleigh, in 
Suffolk, which was one of the first places in England that re- 
ceived the gospel ; and here he preached constantly during the 
reign of king Edward. Archbishop Cranmer, who was a good 
judge of merit, and loved to reward it in learned men, took him 



92 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHlRIStlANS. 

into his family, and presented him to the living of Hadleigh. 
Here he proved himself a most excellent preacher, and a faithful 
pastor. He made himself acquainted with every individual in 
his parish; he taught them like the apostles and primitive 
Christians, who went from house to house. The love of Christ 
wrought so strongly on his mind, that every Sunday and holiday, 
he preached in the most fervent manner to his people. 

In this excellent manner, Dr. Taylor continued to discharge 
his duty at Hadleigh, as long as king Edward lived ; but no 
sooner was that pious monarch dead, than affairs took a different 
turn. 

And here we may observe, that if a man be ever so pious ; if 
he be ever so faithful in the discharge of his duty, yet he will 
meet with many enemies : this was the case with Dr. Taylor. 
In his parish, notwithstanding all his endeavors to suppress 
popery, yet some papists remained; and their hatred of his 
doctrine was extended to the preacher, and rendered them blind 
to his excellencies. 

Two of these persons, named Clarke and Foster, hired a Ro- 
mish priest to come to Hadleigh to say mass. For this purpose, 
they ordered an altar to be built with all convenient speed, and 
appointed that mass should be said on Palm Sunday. But the 
reformers met together in the evening, and pulled down the 
altar ; it was, however, built up again, and a watch was appoint- 
ed, lest it should be demolished a second time. 

The day following, Clarke and Foster came, bringing along 
with them their popish priest, who was to perform the service 
of mass. The priest was dressed in his robes for the occasion, 
and had a guard with him, lest he should be interrupted by the 
populace. 

When Dr. Taylor heard the bells ring, he went into the 
church to know the reason, but found the doors of the chancel 
barred against him. However, getting within the chancel, he 
saw the popish priest at the altar, attended by a great number 
of people, with their swords drawn. The doctor accused the 
priest of idolatry, but the priest retorted upon him, and called 
him traitor, for disobeying the queen's proclamation. Dr. Tay- 
lor said he was no traitor, but a minister of the gospel, com- 
manded to teach the people ; and then ordered the popish priest 
to retire, as one who came in there to poison the flock of Christ 
with his most abominable doctrines. Foster, who was princi- 
pally concerned in this affair, called Dr. Taylor a traitor, and 
violently dragged him out of the church ; while his wife, on her 
knees, begged that God would vindicate his innocence, and 
avenge the injuries so wrongfully inflicted on him. 



DR. ROWLAND TAYLOR. 93 

Foster and Clarke next exhibited a charge of heresy against 
Dr. Taylor, to the chancellor Gardiner, who sent a messenger, 
commanding Dr. Taylor to appear before him, in order to answer 
to the charge. 

When Dr. Taylor's friends heard of this, they were much 
grieved, and fearing what would be the result, as justice was 
not to be expected from the furious bigots then in power, advised 
him to go abroad to save his life. But this he would by no 
means comply with ; saying that it was more honorable to suffer 
for the cause of God, than to flee from the wrath of wicked 
men. " God," said he, " will either protect me from sufferings, 
or he will enable me to bear them." He added, " That he knew 
his dying for the truth would be of more service to the cause of 
Christ, than his flying away from the malice of his persecutors." 

When Dr. Taylor was brought before the chancellor Gardi- 
ner, that prelate reviled him in the most shocking manner, call- 
ing him a traitor and a heretic. 

Dr. Taylor answered the chancellor with a becoming firm- 
ness : he told him, that he was the persecutor of God's people, 
and that he, himself, had adhered to our Savior and his word : 
he put bishop Gardiner in mind of the oath he had taken in the 
beginning of king Edward's reign, to maintain the Protestant 
religion, and oppose the papal supremacy ; but Gardiner an- 
swered that the oath had been extorted, so that he was not 
obliged to abide by it. 

It is certain, that every oath extorted by the threatening of 
punishment, can have no moral force ; and the man who has 
been weak enough to swear, may recede from the obligatory 
part as soon as he has an opportunity. But this was not the 
case with Gardiner : had he refused the oath, all the punish- 
ment inflicted upon him would have been the loss of his bish- 
opric. And surely he who pays the least regard to the sacred 
Name invoked to witness his sincerity, will not choose to enjoy 
a temporal subsistence at the expense of a guilty conscience. 

Dr. Taylor, after being interrogated by the chancellor for a 
considerable time, was at length committed to prison ; for bigotry 
knows no feeling ; persecution no resting-place. 

While he was in prison, he spent the greatest part of his time 
in prayer, in reading the sacred scriptures, and in exhorting the 
poor prisoners, confined with him, to a sense of their duty. This 
was the more necessary, as the people at that time were ex- 
tremely ignorant ; light indeed was beginning to break in upon 
them, but they knew not how to walk. The prison in which 
Dr. Taylor was confined, was that commonly called the King's 



94 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

Bench, and there he met with that holy and pious man Mr. 
Bradford, whose affinity in religious sentiments contributed to 
mitigate his sufferings. If two virtuous or pious persons are of 
the same opinion, and under the same circumstances, they gen- 
erally sympathize with each other. This was the case with Dr. 
Taylor and Mr. Bradford ; for no sooner did they meet each 
ether in prison, than they blessed God who had brought them 
together, to suffer for the truth of the gospel. 

After Dr. Taylor had lain a considerable time in prison, he 
was cited to appear at Bow church, in Cheapside, to answer to 
the dean of the arches concerning his marriage. 

When he was brought before this officer, he defended mar- 
riage in such a masterly manner, that the dean would not ven- 
ture to pronounce a divorce, but only deprived him of his bene- 
fice. He was then remanded to prison, and kept there above a 
year and a half ; when he and several others were brought to 
be again examined before the chancellor. 

Gardiner asked him whether he adhered to the form of religion, 
as established by king Edward VI. ? Whether he approved of 
the English book of common prayer ? Whether he was mar- 
ried ? and many other questions. To all these Dr. Taylor gave 
clear and satisfactory answers, justifying his conduct ; but these 
were not sufficient, seeing his death was resolved on. 

The next time he was brought before the chancellor, was in 
company with Mr. Saunders, whose martyrdom we have already 
described, and Mr. Bradford. Dr. Taylor was charged with 
heresy by the chancellor, and the other bishops who were pres- 
ent. He acknowledged that he abhorred all the popish doc- 
trines of the church of Rome ; that the pope was Antichrist ; 
that to deny the clergy the privilege of marriage was the doctrine 
of devils ; that there were but two sacraments in the New Tes- 
tament ; that the mass was idolatry, the body of Christ being 
in heaven ; and last of all, that he would abide by these senti- 
ments to the last, being convinced that they were consistent with 
the doctrines laid down by Christ and his apostles. 

One may easily imagine what would be the consequences of 
such a free and open declaration. The papists could not bear 
to hear their favorite notions thus called in question, and even 
condemned as idolatry. 

The chancellor therefore pronounced sentence on him, and 
he was taken to a prison in Southwark, called the Clink, where 
he remained till night, and then was sent to the Compter in the 
Poultry. Here he remained seven days ; when on the 4th of 
February, 1555, Bonner, bishop of London, with others, came 



t)R. ROWLAND TAYLOR. 95 

to the said Compter to degrade him, bringing with them the 
popish habits.^ 

The last part of the ceremony of degradation is for the bishop 
to strike the person degraded on the breast ; but Bonner's chap- 
lain advised him not to strike Dr. Taylor, for he would surely 
strike again. " Yes, that I will, by St. Peter," said the doctor, 
" for the cause is Christ's, and I should not be a good soldier if 
I did not fight my master's battles." 

The bishop therefore contented himself with pronouncing a 
curse upon Dr. Taylor ; to which the doctor answered, " You 
may curse as long as you please, but I am confident God will 
support me : I have the witness of a good conscience, that I am 
standing in defence of the truth ; whereas you dare not say that 
you are doing so : but I will pray for you." 

The night after he was degraded, his wife, with his son 
Thomas, came to see him ; and such was the good-nature of the 
keeper, that he permitted them to go into his apartment, and 
sup with him. Thus Dr. Taylor found a great difference be- 
tween the keeper of the bishop's prison, and the keeper of the 
Compter. The bishop's keepers were ever cruel, blasphemous, 
and tyrannical, like their master ; but the keepers of the royal 
prisons, for the most part, showed as much favor as could be 
granted, to those whom, they had in custody. John Hull, the 
servant, came with the wife and son of Dr. Taylor : and at their 
first coming in, they all kneeled down and prayed. 

To his wife, he said, " My dear wife, continue steadfast in the 
faith, fear, and love of God. Keep yourself undefiled by popish 
idolatries and superstition. I have been unto you a faithful 
yokefellow ; and so have you been unto me : for the which I pray 
God to reward you, and doubt not, my dear, but God will reward 
you. Now the time is come that I shall be taken from you, 
and you discharged of the wedlock bond towards me ; therefore 
I will give you my counsel, what I think most expedient for 
you. You are yet a child-bearing woman, and, therefore, it will 
be most convenient for you to marry ; for, doubtless, you will 
not of yourself be able to support our dear children, nor be out 
of trouble, till you be married. Therefore, as soon as Provi- 

* Superstition had risen to such a pitch in the reign of Henry I. that 
the clergy were exempted from corporeal punishments; but his grandson 
Henry II. in the constitutions of Clarendon ordained, that they should 
suffer the same punishments as the laity; and therefore the clergy, that it 
might not be said that a priest suffered death, always degraded him before 
execution; thus by a pitiful quibble maintaining the shadow of exemption, 
when they had lost the substance. 



9b SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

dence shall point out some pious, honest man, who you think 
will support the poor children, be sure to marry him, and live in 
the fear of God ; but by all means avoid idolatry and supersti- 
tion." 

Having* said these words, he fell down and prayed for his 
family; and then he gave his wife an English prayer book, as 
set forth by king Edward VI. ; and to his son Thomas he gave 
a Latin book, containing a collection of sentiments from the 
writings of the primitive fathers, relating to the courage and 
constancy of the ancient martyrs. 

The reader who attends to the conduct of this dying martyr, 
will find that there is something in true religion far superior to 
deception. In the primitive times it was common for the mar- 
tyrs, previous to their sufferings, to converse with their friends, 
and also to write epistles to the churches at a distance. Some 
of those epistles are still extant, and we know that they were 
frequently read in the churches afterwards : but no eloquence 
can exceed that of Dr. Taylor, in taking leave of his wife and 
son. How sweetly do his expressions flow from the heart! 
What a manly dignity under his sufferings does he display ! 
What resignation to the will of God, and what a firm reliance 
on divine Providence ! Here, indeed, grace triumphed over 
human nature, and the soul showed its native splendor, although 
confined within a mortal body. 

The next morning, the fifth of February, so early as two 
o'clock, the, sheriff of London, attended by his officers, came to 
the Compter, and took Dr. Taylor to the Woolpack, near Aid- 
gate. His wife, having some suspicion that he was to be taken 
out that morning, waited all night in the church of St. Botolph, 
near Aldgate, having with her a poor orphan girl, whom the 
doctor had brought up from infancy, and one of her own chil- 
dren. When the sheriff and his company came opposite the 
church, the orphan girl cried out, " O, my dear father ; mother, 
mother, here is my father led out." Then Mrs. Taylor cried 
out, " Rowland ! Rowland ! where art thou ?" for the morning 
was extremely dark. To this Dr. Taylor answered, " Here I 
am, but I am confined." The sheriff's officers wanted to hurry 
him away ; but the sheriff, who had more humanity, ordered 
them to let him speak with his wife. 

She then came to him, when, taking his wife and daughter, 
with the orphan girl, by the hands, he kneeled down, and pray- 
ed with them ; which when the sheriff, and the other persons 
present, saw, they shed tears. Prayers being over, he rose up, 
and taking his wife by the hand, bid her have good comfort, for 



THOMAS TOMKINS. 97 

he had a clear conscience. " God," said he, " will provide a 
father for my children, but let them be steadfast in the faith." 
To which his wife answered, " God be with you, my dear Row- 
land, and I will, with his grace, meet you at Hadleigh." 

When the procession arrived at Aldham Common, where Dr. 
Taylor was to be burnt, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and thank- 
ed God that the last struggle was come, and he hoped he should 
be enabled to go through with it. 

He tore the hood from his face, that he might be seen by the 
numerous spectators, many of whom had formerly been his 
parishioners. He then began to speak to the people who were 
praying for him ; but the officers thrust sticks into his mouth, 
and threatened to cut his tongue out, unless he would promise 
to keep silence at the place of execution. 

When he had prayed he kissed the stake, and got into a 
barrel partly filled with pitch, which was placed for that purpose. 
Fire being set to the pitch, Dr. Taylor continued praying in the 
most devout manner, till one of the officers, more humane than 
the rest, knocked out his brains with a halberd ; which put an 
end to his misery. 



CHAPTER V. 

Martyrdoms of numerous Persons in various parts of England. 

The first person we have to mention on the bloody list con- 
tained in this chapter was named Thomas Tomkins, a weaver, 
who lived, with great reputation, in the parish of St. Leonard, 
Shoreditch. Being accused of heresy, he was summoned before 
that merciless persecutor bishop Bonner, who confined him, with 
many others, in the dungeons of his palace at Fulham. 

During his imprisonment, he was treated by the bishop in a 
manner not only unbecoming a prelate, but a man : he several 
times beat him with peculiar cruelty, and tore the greatest part 
of his beard from his face, for no other reason but his refusing 
his assent to the doctrine of transubstantiation. 

Another instance of this cruel bishop's inhumanity to Mr. 
Tomkins, was exhibited before several gentlemen who came to 
visit him. The bishop, finding him inflexible, took hold of him 
by the wrist, and held his hand over the flame of a wax candle, 
in order, if possible, to make him deviate from those uncorrupted 
9 



98 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

truths of the gospel he had so strongly preserved. This pun- 
ishment Mr. Tomkins submitted to with great fortitude, till the 
veins burst, and water issuing from the hand, flew into the face 
of a bystander, who was so affected, that he requested the bishop 
to forbear, saying, he had sufficiently punished the prisoner. 

A few days after this, Mr. Tomkins was brought before the 
bishop, at his consistory court at St. Paul's, to whom he deliver- 
ed the following articles of confession in writing, sealed up, and 
signed with his own hand : 

" I, Thomas Tomkins, of the parish of St. Leonard, Shore- 
ditch, in the diocese of London, having confessed, and declared 
openly, heretofore, to Edmund Bonner, bishop of London, mine 
ordinary, that my belief hath been many years past, and is at 
this present, that the body of our Savior Jesus Christ is not 
truly, and in very deed, in the sacrament of the altar, but only 
in heaven; and so in heaven, that it cannot now indeed be 
really an truly in the sacrament of the altar : 

" And moreover, having likewise confessed and declared to 
my said ordinary openly many times, that although the church, 
called the Catholic church, hath allowed, and doth allow the 
mass and sacrifice made and done therein, as a wholesome, 
profitable, and godly thing ; yet my belief hath been many years 
past, and is at this present, that the said mass is full of super- 
stition, plain idolatry, and unprofitable for the soul; and so I 
have called it many times, and take it at this present : 

" Having also confessed and declared to my said ordinary, 
that the sacrament of baptism ought to be only in the vulgar 
tongue, and not otherwise ministered ; and also without such 
ceremonies as are generally used in the Latin church, and oth- 
erwise not to be allowed : 

" Finally, being many and oftentimes called before my said 
ordinary, and talking withal, touching all my said confessions 
and declarations, both by my said ordinary, and divers other 
learned men, as well his chaplains as others, and counselled by 
them all to embrace the church, and to recant mine error in the 
premises, which they told me was plain heresy, and manifest 
error ; do testify and declare hereby, that I do and will continu- 
ally stand to my said confession, declaration, and belief, in all 
the premises, and every part thereof; and in nowise recant, or 
go from any part of the same. In witness whereof, I have sub- 
scribed and passed the writing, this 26th of September, 1554." 

Bishop Bonner, and the rest of the tribunal, strongly pressed 
Mr. Tomkins to recant his errors, and return to the mother- 
church ; but he only answered, " I was born and brought up in 



WILLIAM HUNTER. 99 

ignorance till of late years, and now I know the truth, I will 
continue therein unto death." 

Finding him inflexible, they declared him a heretic, and 
ordered the sheriff of London, who attended, to conduct him 
immediately to Newgate. Here he remained till the 16th of 
March, 1555, when he was conducted to Smithfield, and there 
burnt, triumphing in the midst of the flames, and adding to the 
number of those martyrs who had preceded him through the 
path of the flery trial to the realms of immortal glory. 

William Hunter was the son of poor, but honest and religious 
parents, who trained him up in the doctrines of the reformation, 
and when at a proper age put him apprentice to one Thomas 
Taylor, a silk-weaver, in Coleman-street, London. 

On the accession of queen Mary, orders were issued to the 
priests of every parish to summon all their parishioners to receive 
the communion at mass the Easter following, when young 
Hunter, who was then only nineteen years of age, refusing to 
obey the summons, was threatened with being brought before 
the bishop to answer for his disobedience. 

In consequence of this, his master, fearful of incurring eccle- 
siastical censure, desired he would leave him, at least for a 
time ; upon which he quitted his service, and went to his father 
at Brentwood, in Essex. 

A neighboring justice, named Brown, having heard that 
young Hunter maintained heretical principles, sent for his father 
to inquire into the particulars. The old man told him, that his 
son had left him, and that he knew not whither he was gone. 
The justice, not believing what he said, threatened to commit 
him to prison, unless he would immediately cause his son to be 
apprehended, and brought before him. To this he replied with 
tears in his eyes, " Would you have me seek out my son to be 
burned ?" 

He was, however, obliged to go in quest of his son ; when 
meeting him by accident, William asked his father if he was 
seeking for him ; to which the old man answered, with tears, in 
the affirmative, and that it was by order of the justice, who 
threatened to put him in prison. The son, to secure his father 
from any danger on his account, said, he was ready to accompa- 
ny him home, which he accordingly did. 

The next day he was apprehended by the constable of the 
parish, who put him in the stocks for twenty-four hours, and 
then took him before the justice. 

Hunter was summoned to appear at the consistory court held 
at St. Paul's. He accordingly attended at the time appointed, 



100 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

when he was severely reproved for having fallen from the 
Catholic faith, and was exhorted to return to the same. 

To this he boldly answered, that he had not fallen from the 
Catholic faith, but believed and confessed it with all his heart. 

He was then desired by the bishop to recant what he had 
said concerning the sacrament of the altar ; but he declared, 
that by the help of God he would still continue to persist in the 
faith he had hitherto maintained and avowed. 

Being urged still farther, and promised that if he would re- 
cant he should go home unhurt, he said to the bishop, " My 
lord, if you will let me alone, and leave me to my own con- 
science, I will return to my father, and dwell with him, or else 
with my master again, and will keep my opinion to myself." 

The bishop answered, " I am content, so that thou wilt go to 
church, receive, and be confessed." This Hunter peremptorily 
refused ; upon which, after several farther efforts to bring him 
over, the bishop ordered him to be put in the stocks, where he 
continued two days and nights, having only a crust of brown 
bread, and a cup of water, given to him for refreshment. 

At the expiration of the two days, the bishop went to him, 
and finding the bread and water lay by him untouched, he 
ordered some of his servants to take him out of the stocks, and 
let him breakfast with them; but they evaded the bishop's 
request, thinking it great profanation that such excellent Chris- 
tians as they were, should eat with a vile heretic. 

After this he was repeatedly brought before the bishop, who, 
sometimes by soothing him, and sometimes by threats, endea- 
vored to bring him to a recantation ; but all his efforts proved 
ineffectual. In consequence of this, the persecuting prelate 
passed sentence on him, which was, that he should be remanded 
to Newgate for a time, from whence he should be removed to 
Brentwood ; " where," said the bishop, " thou shalt be burned." 

A few days after this the bishop sent for him again, and 
promised him preferment if he would recant : to which he re- 
plied, " My lord, I thank you for your great offer ; but if you 
cannot enforce my recantation from scripture, I cannot, in my 
conscience, turn from God for the love of the world, for I count 
all things but dung and dross for the love of Christ." 

He was then carried back to Newgate, and in a few days 
removed to Brentwood, where he was confined in an inn till the 
day of his execution. During this time he was visited by many 
of his neighbors and acquaintances, all of whom he exhorted to 
beware of popish superstition and idolatry. 

On the morning of the 27th of March, 1555, the sheriff gave 



WILLIAM HUNTER. 101 

orders for the necessary preparations to be made for his execu- 
tion. In the mean time the sheriff's son, who was his friend, 
visited him at the inn, and encouraged him not to fear the men 
who were making preparations for his death ; to whom he said, 
" that, thank God, he was not in the least intimidated, for that 
he had cast up his account, and well knew the happy conse- 

2uences that would attend his strict adherence to the cause of 
Jhrist." 

A short time after this he was led from the inn to the stake, 
between one of the sheriff's officers and his brother Robert. In 
their way he was met by his father, who, with tears flowing 
from his eyes, said to him, " God be with thee, son William. " 
To which he replied, " God be with you, good father, and be 
of good cheer, for I trust we shall meet again, with exceeding 
great joy." 

When he arrived at the place of execution, he kneeled on a 
fagot, and repeated the 51st Psalm, till he came to these words : 
" The sacrifice of God is a contrite spirit : a contrite and a broken 
heart, God, thou wilt not despise." He was then interrupted 
by one of the officers, who told him the translation was wrong, 
the words being " an humble spirit;" but he said the transla- 
tion was " a contrite heart," on which he was told that the 
heretics translated books as they pleased. 

The sheriff then showed him a letter from the queen, con- 
taining his pardon if he would recant : but he refused life on 
such terms, went up to the stake, and was chained to it, saying 
to the spectators, " Good people, pray for me, and make quick 
despatch ; pray for me, while you see me alive, and I will pray 
for you." 

He then took a fagot, and embraced it in his arms ; and on 
a priest's offering him a book, said, " Away, thou false prophet ! 
beware of him, good people, and come away from their abomi- 
nations, lest ye be partakers of their plagues." The priest 
cried out, "As thou burnest here, so shalt thou burn in hell!" 
" Thou liest, thou false prophet !" exclaimed Hunter ; " away 
with thee !" 

As soon as the fire was kindled, our martyr gave his prayer- 
book to his brother, who, to encourage him, reminded him of 
the passion of his dear Redeemer, and bid him be of good cheer : 
to which he replied, " I fear neither torture nor death ; Lord 
Jesus, receive my departing spirit !" The fire burning rapidly, 
he was soon consumed, yielding up his life, with patience and 
humility, to Him who gave it, and in testimony of the truth of 
9* 



102 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

that God who cannot change, but whose word is the same yes- 
terday, to-day, and forever. 

On the same day that Hunter was executed, Thomas Higbed 
and Thomas Causton, two gentlemen of Essex, suffered the like 
fate ; the former being burnt at Horndon on the Hill, and the 
latter at Eayleigh, both in that county. 

William Pigot, Stephen Knight, and the Bev. John Law- 
rence.— These three pious Christians having been informed 
against by the emissaries of Bonner and Gardiner, as maintaining 
religious opinions contrary to the doctrine and practice of the 
holy mother-church, were summoned to appear before bishop 
Bonner, at his consistory court in London, where they were 
severally questioned concerning their faith of the corporeal 
presence in the sacrament. 

Having respectively answered and subscribed that the ele- 
ments were not substantially, but figuratively, the body and 
blood of Christ, in that holy ordinance, they were severely 
reprimanded by the court, admonished to recant their heretical 
opinions, and for that time dismissed. 

After this, bishop Bonner entered into argument with Law- 
rence, the priest, alone, and having demanded of what order he 
was.- he answered, that he was admitted to priest's orders eigh- 
teen years past, that he had been formerly a Black friar, and 
that he was now betrothed to a maid, whom he intended to 
marry. 

Mr. Lawrence was, for the present, dismissed ; but a few 
days after, he, with Pigot and Knight, was again summoned 
before the bishop, who, with his usual hypocrisy, exhorted them 
to recant, embrace the Roman Catholic faith, and not be the 
wilful cause of their own destruction. But no arguments could 
induce them to recede in a single point ; all of them declaring 
they would abide by their opinions, because they were founded 
on the word of God ; whereas the other was merely of human 
invention. 

From this frank declaration bishop Bonner proceeded to pass 
sentence on them as irreclaimable heretics ; and then degraded 
Lawrence with the usual ceremonies. After which they were 
all three delivered to the sheriff, who conducted them to New- 
gate. 

On the 28th of March, 15-55, being the day appointed for the 
execution of Pigot and Knight, they were removed early in the 
morning to the respective places destined for their execution, 
the former at Braintree and the latter at Maiden, in Essex. 

Both these martyrs suffered with amazing fortitude and resig- 



BISHOP FAR RAIL 103 

nation, proving to the spectators, that, " as is the day" of the 
sincere believer, " so likewise will be his strength." 

The next day, March 29th, the Eev. John Lawrence suffered 
at Colchester. He was carried to the place of execution in a 
chair, being unable to walk, from the pressure of the irons with 
which his legs were bound, and the weakness of his body from 
want of proper nourishment while in prison. The chair was 
fastened to the stake, and he sat in it, for some time, with great 
composure, praying to G-od to enable him to undergo the fiery 
trial ; at length the fagots were lighted, and he triumphantly 
expired in the cause of his glorious master, in sure and certain 
hope of an eternal existence in heaven. 

Dr. Robert Farrar, bishop of St. David's.* — The emissaries 
of the persecuting bishops had, for some time, fixed their eyes on 
this worthy and pious prelate, who, not only in the former reign, 
but also alter the accession of Mary, had been particularly zea- 
lous in promoting the reformed doctrines, and exploding the 
errors of popish idolatry. Information of this being given to 
the bishop of Winchester, then lord chancellor, Dr. Farrar, 
with several others, was summoned to appear before him, and 
the other commissioners. 

After some previous harangue, the bishop of Winchester told 
him, that the queen and parliament had restored religion to the 
state in which it was at the beginning of the reign of Henry 
VIII. ; that he was in the queen's debt, but her majesty would 
cancel the same, and readmit him to her favor, if he would 
return to the holy Catholic church. 

Undismayed by this information, Dr. Farrar answered, that 
with respect to the debt, he submitted it to the lord treasurer ; 
but his lordship might well remember, that upon two former 
occasions he had solemnly sworn never to acknowledge the 
papal jurisdiction over the realm of England, and therefore it 
was needless to rehearse what he had already so peremptorily 
declared. 

The haughty Gardiner was so highly incensed at this spirited 
behavior in Dr. Farrar, that, according to his usual inhuman 
custom, he treated him with scurrility, calling him " froward 
knave," and telling him, that he should know his fate in a few 
days. To this Farrar coolly replied, that he would ever readily 
obey his summons, but would never retract what he had solemnly 
sworn, at the instigation of him, or any other man whatever. 

The examination being over, Dr. Farrar was ordered to 
Newgate, where he was a short time confined, and then sent 
into Wales, there to receive his sentence of condemnation. 



104 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

On his arrival at Carmarthen he was delivered to the sheriff 
of the county, who took him before Henry Morgan, the popish 
bishop of St. David's, and Constantine, the public notary, by 
whom he was committed to the custody of the keeper of Car- 
marthen jail. 

Thus, for his steadfast adherence to the uncorrupted doctrines 
of the reformation, and resolute denial of the papal jurisdiction 
in these realms, was Dr. Farrar condemned, degraded, delivered 
up to the secular power, and, on the 30th of March, being the 
eve of Passion Sunday, in the bloody year 1555, executed in 
the market-place of Carmarthen, amidst a numerous crowd of 
spectators. 

The following circumstance is a convincing proof what con- 
stancy and resolution this good man possessed, and how deter- 
mined he was to retain those religious principles to the last, 
which, throughout his life, he had strongly adhered to. 

The son of a person of distinction visiting him a few days 
before his execution, and lamenting the cruel fate that awaited 
him, the doctor told him, that if he saw him once stir in the 
pains of burning, he might then give no credit to his doctrine, 
but look upon it as the effects of enthusiasm. 

He resolutely fulfilled his promise, and greatly surprised his 
friend, who came to condole his fate : for he stood motionless 
in the midst of the flames, holding both his hands till they were 
burnt to the stumps, at which time one of the officers struck him 
on the head with a staff, and put a period to his life. 

As Dr. Farrar gave many signal instances of his sincere and 
unshaken zeal for the honor of Christ, and exaltation of his 
name, during life, so, at his death, he suffered and expired with 
a degree of Christian heroism, equal to that of any of the noble 
army of martyrs. 

Martyrdom of Rawlins White, a poor fisherman of South 
Wales. — The poor man whose sufferings we are about to 
relate had been so attentive to the preaching of the gospel during 
the reign of Edward VI. that he had attained to a very com- 
petent knowledge of the holy scriptures, and became a zealous 
assertor of the Protestant doctrines, having wholly renounced the 
superstition and idolatry of popery, and conformed to the public 
worship of God according to the English common prayer book. 

Being thus converted to the true faith of Christ, he took 
great pains to instruct his son in the same, causing him to read 
a portion of the holy scriptures every night and morning, till he 
likewise became well grounded in the principles of the true 
religion, as contained in the gospel. 




Burning of Rowlin White, a poor Fisherman, March 3d, 1555. 




Cuthbert Symson put to the Rack in the Tower of London 



RAWLINS WHITE, 105 

White was not only desirous of acquiring saving knowledge 
himself, but also of communicating it to others ; insomuch that 
he took every opportunity of visiting his neighbors, and endea- 
voring to instruct those whom he found desirous of obtaining a 
knowledge of the truth. 

He continued those devout and holy exercises in a public 
manner, till the death of king Edward, when popery being 
restored, and the pure religion discouraged and restrained, he 
used to meet his friends privately, pray, and encourage them to 
hold fast to the truth. At length he was apprehended, by one 
of the officers of the town, on a suspicion of heresy, who taking 
him before the bishop of Llandaff, he was, by that prelate, 
committed to prison. 

After a long imprisonment, the bishop of Llandaff summoned 
White to appear before him, and endeavored to bring him over 
to idolatry and superstition ; but all his exhortations proving 
ineffectual, he told him, in anger, that he must come to a resolu- 
tion either to recant his heretical opinions, or endure the rigor 
of the laws enacted against those who maintained tenets repug- 
nant to the doctrines of the holy see. 

On the day appointed for his examination, the bishop, in the 
presence of his chaplains, and many others, assembled in the 
chapel, declared that White was known not only to maintain 
heretical principles himself, but to inculcate the same among his 
acquaintance. Then addressing himself to the prisoner, he 
told him, that he had frequently, since his first warning, been 
admonished to relinquish his heretical tenets, and yet had 
always turned a deaf ear to the most salutary advice ; he added, 
that out of clemency they had once more sent for him, mildly 
to endeavor to bring him to an humble sense of his errors ; and 
assured him that, upon due penitence for the crimes he had 
committed, both against God and the laws of his sovereign, 
they were disposed to show him mercy : but that if, in spite of 
the royal clemency, and the admonition of the reverend fathers, 
he persisted in his heresies, they were determined to execute 
on him the utmost rigor of the law, as a most damnable and 
obstinate heretic. 

White, without the least sign of fear at the peremptory decla- 
ration of the bishop, told his lordship, that he blessed God he 
was a Christian, and held no doctrines contrary to the divine 
mind and will as revealed in the scriptures of truth : if he did, 
he begged to be convinced of the same out of the divine word, 
to which he determined ever most implicitly to conform. 

After much more exhortation, the bishop assured him, that 



106 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

. 

if he would not recant, he must condemn him as a heretic. To 
which White replied, that he might proceed as he thought 
proper, but that he could not condemn him as a heretic, as he 
did not maintain any opinion that was not supported by the 
word of God. 

He was warmly admonished to recant, but all exhortation 
was ineffectual ; the bishop, therefore, read the definitive sen- 
tence, after which he was carried to Cardiff, and imprisoned in 
a place called Cocknarel, a most filthy and lothsome dungeon, 
where he continued till the writ for his execution came from 
London. 

Upon the day appointed for terminating his life, which was 
March 30, 1555, he was brought from prison, and in his way to 
the place appointed for the bloody scene met his wife and chil- 
dren, wringing their hands, and most bitterly lamenting his 
approaching fate. This affecting sight drew tears from his 
eyes ; but soon recollecting himself, and striking his breast 
with his hand, he said, " Ah ! flesh, stayest thou me, wouldst 
thou fain prevail ? Well, do what thou canst, by God's grace 
thou shalt not get the victory." 

As soon as he arrived at the stake, he fell on his knees and 
kissed the earth, saying, " Earth to earth, and dust to dust ! 
thou art my mother, to thee I must return." The fire being 
kindled, he was soon surrounded by the flames, in the midst of 
which this good old man (for he was sixty years of age) held 
up his hands till the sinews shrunk, crying earnestly, " O Lord, 
receive my soul ! Lord, receive my spirit !" The flames 
were so vehement about his legs, that they were almost con- 
sumed before the upper part of his body was injured by the 
fire; notwithstanding which he bore his sufferings with the 
greatest composure and resignation, cheerfully resigning his 
soul into the hands of Him who gave it, in sure and certain 
hopes of being rewarded for his constancy with a crown of 
eternal life. 

Martyrdom of the Eev. George Marsh. — This eminent 
and pious divine was descended from poor, but honest and reli- 
gious parents, who educated him, from his earliest years, in the 
principles of the reformed religion ; so that when he arrived at 
manhood, he was well versed in the doctrines of the pure gospel 
of Christ. At his first entrance into the business of life he 
followed the occupation of farming, and by his honest endeavors 
maintained his family with decency and reputation for some 
years : but on the decease of his wife, being disposed to study, 
he placed his children with his father, quitted his farm, and 



EEV. GEORGE MARSH. 107 

went to Cambridge, where he made such a progress in litera- 
ture that he soon entered into holy orders. 

He officiated as curate in several parishes in the county of 
Lancaster, kept a school at Dean, and was a zealous promoter 
of the true religion, as well as a vigorous opposer of the idola- 
tries of the church of Rome, during the reign of Edward VI. 
But when popery again raised its destructive head, he, among 
many others, became the object of its persecution, as one that 
propagated doctrines contrary to the infallible church, and there- 
fore liable to the severest censure and punishment. 

Mr. Marsh, on hearing that search was made after him, ab- 
sconded for some time, and in his retirement often deliberated 
with himself, whether he should go abroad to save his life, or 
surrender himself up, in order to ward off the mischief which 
threatened his mother and brother, who were suspected of hav- 
i ing concealed him. At length, thinking that flight would 
evince cowardice in the best of causes, he determined, by the 
grace of God, to abide by the consequence, and accordingly sur- 
rendered himself to the earl of Derby, at his seat at Latham, in 
the county of Lancaster. 

When he was brought into the earl's presence, he was charged 
with propagating heresy, and sowing sedition amongst the peo- 
ple ; but he denied the charge, and declared, that he preached no 
other doctrine than what was contained in the word of God, 
and that he always enforced allegiance to his sovereign accord- 
ing to the will of God. After many questions and exhortations, 
finding he still persevered in that faith which opposed that of 
the " infallible church," the earl gave him pen and ink, and 
ordered him to write down his belief concerning the sacrament 
of the altar ; and on his writing the same words he had before 
delivered, he was commanded to be more particular, when he 
wrote only the following: "Further I know not." 

This resolute behavior exposed him to the keenest rebutment 
of his popish persecutors, who committed him to prison, and 
suffered no one to come near him but the keeper, who brought 
him daily the scanty allowance of the place. He was after- 
wards committed to Lancaster jail, laid in irons, and arraigned 
at the bar with the common felons, where the persecutors en- 
deavored to extort from him information of several persons in 
that county, whom they suspected of maintaining heretical opi- 
nions ; but nothing could prevail with him to utter a word that 
might endanger the lives or liberties of his faithful brethren in 
1 Christ. 

After remaining some weeks in confinement at Lancaster, he 



108 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS, 

was removed to Chester, and placed in the bishop's custody? 
when his lordship frequently conferred with him, and used his 
utmost endeavors to bring him to an acknowledgment of the 
corporeal presence in the sacrament of the altar, the mass, con- 
fession, and, in short, all the tenets and practices of the church 
of Rome. Being examined as to every particular article, he 
modestly answered, according to the doctrine publicly taught in 
the reign of Edward VI, 

After a further confinement of three weeks in prison, Marsh 
was again brought into the cathedral, where the chancellor made 
a formal harangue on the bishop's care of his flock, k< in order 
to prevent infection from scabby sheep." Being charged with 
having declared that the church and doctrine taught and set 
forth in king Edward's time was the true church, and that the 
church of Rome is not the true Catholic church, he acknow- 
ledged the declaration, and ratified it by a repetition. 

Mr. Marsh mildly expostulated with the bishop, telling him? 
if he could be persuaded in his own conscience, that the articles 
proposed to him were founded on God's word, he would gladly 
yield in every point ; declaring that he held no heretical opinion, 
but utterly abhorred every kind of heresy ; and then called all 
present to bear witness that in the articles of religion he held 
no other opinion than what was by law established, and publicly 
taught in England, in the time of king Edward VL ; and that, 
in such religion and doctrine, by the grace of God, he would 
live and die. He was then, for the last time, asked whether he 
would stand to these opinions, being full of heresies, or forsake 
them, and return to the Catholic church; and on his heartily 
declaring he would continue steadfast and immovable in the 
faith of God's word, nor ever return to any church that was not 
founded on scripture authority, the bishop began to read his 
sentence of condemnation, but was interrupted by the chancellor, 
in order to give him another opportunity of recanting. 

He resolutely withstood the earnest entreaties of several peo- 
ple, who desired him to accept the proffered mercy ; nor could 
even the repeated exhortations of the bishop and chancellor 
prevail with this eminent servant of Christ to deny his Lord and 
Master, and submit to the usurpation of cruel, tyrannical men. 

All endeavors proving ineffectual, the bishop proceeded in 
passing sentence, which being ended, Marsh was delivered up 
to the sheriffs, who conveyed him to the North-gate prison, 
where he was confined in a dungeon till the day appointed for 
his execution. 

On the 4th of April, 1555, this firm believer was led to the 



WILLIAM FLOWER. 109 

place appointed for his martyrdom, amidst a crowd of lamenting 
spectators. It was near a village called Spittle-Boughton, at a 
small distance from Chester. As soon as he arrived at the 
place, the chamberlain of that city showed him a box, containing 
the queen's pardon on condition that he would recant. Our 
martyr coolly answered, " That he would gladly accept the 
same, for he loved the queen ; but as it tended to pluck him 
from God, who was King of kings and Lord of lords, he could 
not receive it on such terms." 

As soon as he was chained to the stake, he again addressed 
himself earnestly in prayer to God ; and the fire being kindled, 
he suffered, for a considerable time, the most exquisite torture, 
his flesh being so broiled and puffed up, that those who stood 
before him could not see the chain with which he was fastened. 
At length, with the utmost fortitude, he spread forth his arms, 
and said, with a voice to be universally heard by the spectators, 
" Father of heaven, have mercy -non me." Soon after which 
he yielded up his spirit into the hands of Him who gave it. 

Thus died, in confirmation of the gospel of Christ, a sincere 
believer, raising, by his patient resignation, the wonder and 
astonishment of all that saw him suffer, the greater part of 
whom cried out with ecstasy, " Of a truth God is with him." 



CHAPTER VI. 

Martyrdoms of William Flower, John Cardmaker, John Warne, 

and others. 

William Flower was born at a place called Snowhill, in the 
county of Cambridge. He was educated in the Roman Catholic 
superstition ; and being brought up to the church, when at a 
proper age he was admitted into orders, and became a professed 
monk in the abbey of Ely. After residing some time in the 
monastery, he threw off the monkish habit, became a secular 
priest, returned to the place of his nativity, and officiated, for 
some years, in a clerical capacity. In process of time, on a 
serious review of the sacred scriptures, and candid comparison 
of them with the doctrines and practices of the Romish church, 
he began to doubt of the authenticity of the latter ; and, on a 
further inspection, finding them wholly repugnant to the word 
of God, and founded on the mere inventions of men, he abjured 
10 



110 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS* 

them, and earnestly embraced the doctrines of the reformation. 
After having thus departed from the Romish church, he came 
to London, and took up his residence at Lambeth, where he 
married, and kept a school for his livelihood. 

Going one day from Lambeth to Westminster, he went into 
St. Margaret's church, at the time that mass was performing 
there. As he refused to kneel at the elevation of the host, he 
was severely reprimanded by the priest ; at which Flower was 
so irritated, that he struck him on the head, the priest having, 
at the same time, in his hand a chalice containing some conse- 
crated wafers. As his behavior on this occasion proceeded 
rather from rash zeal than well-grounded knowledge, he sub- 
mitted himself to the award of bishop Bonner, willing to endure, 
for his folly, whatever punishment he should think proper to 
inflict. The bishop would have mitigated his punishment for 
the crime he had committed in striking the priest, if he would 
have subscribed to the popish faith ; but that he absolutely 
refused to consent to ; in consequence of which he was com- 
mitted a prisoner to the Gate-house. 

After remaining some time in prison, he was brought before 
the bishop, who administered to him, on oath, several articles. 
But not answering satisfactorily to these, he was committed to 
the Fleet prison, when he was brought before the warden, and 
found guilty of abusing a priest in the duty of his office, and 
also of maintaining damnable heresies. 

He was again brought before the bishop, who used the most 
forcible arguments in his power to induce him to recant ; but 
these proving ineffectual, he asked him, If he knew any matter, 
or cause, why sentence should not be pronounced against him 
as a heretic ? To which Flower answered, " I have nothing at 
all to say, for I have already said unto you all that I had to say; 
and that I have said I will not go from : and, therefore do what 
you will." The bishop then proceeded to pass sentence, con- 
demning and excommunicating him as a heretic ; after which 
he was degraded, and delivered over to the secular power. 

The 24th of April 1555, was the day appointed for his exe- 
cution, and the place was St. Margaret's church-yard, West- 
minster. On the morning of the fatal day he was led to the 
stake, amidst a prodigious number of spectators. 

He then desired all persons whom he had offended to forgive 
him, as he, from his heart, forgave all the world. This done, 
he was chained to the stake, and his left hand fastened to his 
side. The other hand, with which he had struck the priest, 
was then held up, and cut off, the blood plentifully gushing 



JOHN CARDMAKER AND JOHN WARNE. Ill 

from the wrist ; which punishment he bore without the least 
apparent emotion. The fagots were then piled round him, and 
being immediately kindled, he cried out, with a loud voice, " 
thou Son of God, have mercy upon me ; O thou Son of God, 
receive my soul." These words he repeated three times, when 
the violence of the smoke took away his speech ; but he still 
showed the spectators that he was not yet deprived of life, by 
holding up the arm from whence the hand had been cut, with 
the other, as long as he was able. There not being a sufficiency 
of fagots, he underwent great torture, the lower parts of his 
body being consumed a considerable time before the others were 
much affected. At length, however, the executioner finished 
his miseries, by striking him a violent blow on the head, which 
brought the upper part of him into the fire ; and in this dreadful 
manner he yielded up his life. 

John Cardmaker and John Warne. — John Cardmaker was 
educated in the Roman religion, and for some years was a friar 
of the order of St. Francis. After the dissolution of religious 
houses by Henry VIII. he attended with such diligence to the 
preaching and writing of pious and learned divines, that he 
became a convert to the Protestant faith, obtained a living in 
the reformed church, and was an eminent preacher of the gospel. 

In the reign of Edward VL he was appointed reader at St 
Paul's, and prebendary of Wells, in which functions he con- 
tinued indefatigable, till the accession of queen Mary, when he 
was apprehended, together with the bishop of Wells, and com- 
mitted to the Fleet, though the laws of king Edward were then 
in full force. 

When the papal supremacy and jurisdiction were re-estab- 
lished in England, and bishops had authority, by virtue of the 
statute, to proceed against heretics, Cardmaker was removed 
from the Fleet to the Compter, where he contracted an ac- 
quaintance with Laurence Saunders, (whose sufferings we have 
already described,) by whom he was animated and encouraged 
to continue steadfast in his faith and profession. 

In process of time, he was summoned to appear before the 
arrogant and cruel Bonner, who alleged against him divers 
charges, which, with Cardmaker's answers, were as follows: 

1. That after professing the Roman Catholic religion, and 
entering into holy orders, he took a wife, and had by her a fe- 
male child, thereby breaking his vow, and the order and ordi- 
nance of the church. 

The first part of this charge he allowed, but denied his having 
broken any vow by this marriage ; because he was allowed to 



112 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

marry, both by the laws of the realm, and also by the laws of 
the church of England. 

2. That he believed and taught, and did still believe, that in 
the sacrament of the altar, under the visible signs, that is, under 
the forms of bread and wine, there is really and truly the true 
and natural body of our Savior Christ. 

He replied, that he had believed and taught as contained in 
this article, but he did not then so believe and teach. 

3. That the belief of the Catholic church is, that having the 
body and blood of Christ really and truly contained in the sa- 
crament of the altar, is to have, by the omnipotent power of 
almighty God, the body and blood of Christ there invisibly, but 
really, present under the same sacrament, and to make thereby 
a new God, or a new Christ, or a new body of Christ. 

The whole of this he denied. 

4. That this may be consistent, the faith of the Catholic 
church is, that the body of Christ is visibly and truly ascended 
into heaven, and there is, in the visible form of his humanity; 
and yet the same body, in substance, is invisibly and truly con- 
tained in the sacrament of the altar. 

This he denied as absurd and unscriptural. 

5. That Christ, at his last supper, taking bread into his hands, 
breaking, and giving it to his apostles, saying, " Take, eat, this 
is my body," did institute a sacrament there, ordaining that his 
body, really and only, should be contained in the said sacra- 
ment ; no substance of bread and wine there remaining. 

To the first part he assented, but denied the latter part ; and 
to his answers he subscribed his name. 

For persisting in these answers he was condemned, and sent 
to Newgate, where he was visited by a messenger from the 
council, to know whether or not he would recant. 

He told the messenger, that since God, of his mercy, had open- 
ed his eyes to see his eternal truth, he had called upon his name 
to give him his grace to understand his word, and was deter- 
mined, by the aid of the same grace, to continue steadfast in 
the same. 

After some debate concerning the corporeal presence in the 
sacrament of the altar, the messenger, finding Cardmaker in- 
flexible in his opinion, departed, and acquainted the council 
with the result of his message. 

John Warne was by trade an upholder, and lived in the 
parish of Walbrook, with great credit and reputation, being a 
very pious and conscientious man. 

As all who professed the Protestant faith, in these persecuting 



JOHT* CARDMAXER AND JOHN WARNE. 113 

times, were liable, not only to molestation in the performance 
of their religious duties, but also to be arraigned at the bloody 
tribunal of the relentless Bonner, Warne, among the rest, was 
suspected of heresy, brought before the bishop, and the following 
articles were laid to his charge : 

1. That he believed that in the sacrament, called the sacra- 
ment of the altar, there is not the very, true, and natural body 
of our Savior Christ in substance, under the forms of bread and 
wine. 

2. That he believed, that after the words of consecration spo- 
ken by the priest, there is not (as the church of England doth 
believe and teach) the body of Christ, but that there doth only 
remain the substance of material bread, as it is before the conse- 
cration, and that the said bread is noways altered and changed. 

3. That he believed, that if the Catholic church doth believe 
and teach there is in the mass (now used in England, and in 
other places of Christendom) a sacrifice, wherein there is a 
sacrament concerning the body and blood of Christ, really and 
truly, then that belief and faith of the church is naught, and 
against God's truth and the scripture. 

4. That neither in Lent past, nor any time since the queen's 
reign, he had been at church, nor heard mass, nor had been 
confessed, or had received the sacrament of the altar ; and said 
that he was not sorry for the same, because his conscience was 
not defiled, as it would otherwise have been. 

Warne underwent several examinations, in the presence of 
different persons, on these articles ; at all of which he declared, 
that he did believe and confess the same to be true. 

At length, the bishop of London having frequently warned 
him to abjure his heretical tenets and return to his obedience to 
the church of Rome, but without effect, the definitive sentence 
was pronounced, when he was delivered up to the sheriffs, and 
sent to Newgate. 

On the 30th of May, 1555, these two martyrs were conducted, 
under a strong guard, from Newgate to Smithfield, the place 
appointed for their execution. 

As soon as they arrived at the stake, Warne began his prayer, 
which being finished, he prepared himself for the fiery trial. 
While Warne was at prayers, Cardmaker was discoursing with 
the sheriffs, insomuch that the friends of the reformation feared 
he would recant ; but these apprehensions soon subsided, for 
after his conference with the sheriffs, and a short prayer, he 
courageously went to the stake, took his fellow-sufferer by the 
hand, comforted him, and cheerfully submitted to be bound. 
10* 



114 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

When the people beheld this they were greatly rejoiced, as it 
totally removed their apprehensions that they would recant ; 
and they exclaimed, with satisfaction, " God be praised ! the 
Lord strengthen ye ! the Lord Jesus receive your spirits !" 

The executioner having set fire to the fagots, they burnt with 
great rapidity, and the two martyrs soon passed through the 
flames, to enjoy the crown of triumph and victory prepared for 
the true soldiers of Christ in his blessed kingdom. 

On the same day that Warne and Cardmaker suffered in 
Smithfield, John Ardeley and John Simpson, two laboring 
men, and sincere though humble Christians, were burnt in- Es- 
sex ; the former at Rayleigh, and the latter at Rochford. 

Thomas Hawkes.— This person was the son of reputable and 
pious parents, who gave him a good education, and brought him 
up in the reformed religion. He strictly adhered to the religious 
principles which had been instilled into his youthful mind : so 
that, finding the gospel, after the death of king Edward, began 
to decline, (especially among great families, in one of which, 
that of lord Oxford, he lived,) he returned home, where he 
hoped quietly to enjoy the worship of God according to the 
dictates of his own conscience. 

In these expectations, however, he soon found himself disap- 
pointed. As there were now popish emissaries in every corner, 
lying in wait to give information if any one was only suspected 
of favoring the doctrines of the reformation, Hawkes was appre- 
hended, and brought before the earl of Oxford, his former mas- 
ter, for " being unsound in religion, and contemning the sacra- 
ments of the church, in that he had kept a son unbaptized three 
weeks, because he would not suffer him to be baptized after the 
popish manner." 

The earl referred him to bishop Bonner, to whom having 
written that he had refused to have his child baptized according 
to the order of the church now in use, he left him to his lord- 
ship's discretion. 

When Hawkes was brought before the bishop, he was asked 
the cause of keeping the child unbaptized so long : to which he 
returned for answer, that he was bound to do nothing contrary 
to the word of God. After much debate on the subject, the 
bishop asked him if he would have his child baptized according 
to the service-book set out in the reign of Edward VI. To 
which he replied, that it was the very thing he desired from 
his soul. 

This, however, was but mere equivocation to learn his senti- 
ments ; for it appeared in the sequel, that Bonner's wish was to 



THOMAS HAWKES. 115 

compel him to submit to the superstitions of the church of Rome ; 
but this, with all his artifice, he was unable to effect. 

The bishop, with several others, held various conferences 
with Hawkes, concerning his belief of the corporeal presence in 
the sacrament of the altar, the mass, the holy creed, holy water, 
and other ceremonies of the church of Rome ; but these also he 
rejected as he had done that of baptism, because they were con- 
trary to the word of God, by which alone he was determined to 
be guided and directed in all matters of faith and religion ; nay, 
he boldly told them all, that he would not credit them in any 
thing but what they could prove from the holy scriptures. 

At length Bonner, finding he could by no means prevail with 
him to recant his opinions and submit to the church of Rome, 
sent him prisoner to the Gate-house, in Westminster, command- 
ing the keeper to confine him closely, and not to permit any 
person to converse with him. 

During his confinement, various methods were used to bring 
him over to recant, such as conversation, reading to him, taking 
him to hear sermons, and the like ; but all proved ineffectual ; 
his constant answer, to all who spoke to him on that subject, 
being, " I am no changeling." 

A few days after this the bishop summoned him, with several 
others, to appear publicly in the consistory court at St. Paul's, 
where the several articles alleged against him, together with 
the bill of confession, were read to him, in all which he firmly 
continued. 

They then strongly exhorted him to recant, that they might 
not be obliged to pass the awful sentence of death upon him. 
To which he cheerfully replied, that if he had a hundred bodies, 
he would suffer them all to be torn to pieces, rather than abjure 
the faith of Christ's gospel. 

On his thus steadfastly persevering in the faith which he pro- 
fessed, the bishop read the sentence of condemnation against 
him, and five others; after which he was sent back to prison, 
where he remained till June following, when he was delivered 
into the hands of lord Rich, who caused him to be conveyed to 
Chelmsford, and from thence to Coxall, in Essex, where he was 
burned on the 10th of the same month. 

Mr. Hawkes gave many pious exhortations, and godly admo- 
nitions, to his friends who came to visit him ; and several of 
them requesting, if it was possible, that he would show them 
some token by which the possibility of burning without repining 
might appear, he promised, " by the help of God, to show them 
that the most exquisite torments were to be endured in the glo- 



116 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

rious cause of Christ, and his gospel, the comforts of which were 
able to lift the believing soul above all that men or devils could 
inflict." Accordingly, it was agreed between them, that if the 
rage of pain was tolerable, he should lift up his hands towards 
heaven before he gave up the ghost. 

A short time after this agreement, he was led to the place of 
execution, where being fastened to the stake with a chain, he 
addressed the multitude, and especially lord Rich, reasoning 
with him on the iniquity and dreadful consequences of shedding 
the innocent blood of the saints. 

Having fervently prayed to almighty God, the flames were 
kindled around him, and he continued in them so long, that his 
speech was taken away by their violence, his skin was con- 
tracted, and the spectators thought he was dead ; when on a 
sudden, and contrary to all expectation, this eminent and zealous 
servant of God, mindful of the promise he had made to his 
friends, held his hands flaming over his head, and, as if in an 
ecstasy of joy, clapped them thrice together. 

The astonished multitude testified their approbation of his 
faith and patience, and his friends, to whom he made the prom- 
ise, were exceedingly confirmed in their most holy faith, by being 
eye-witnesses to the power of divine strength, which is able to 
support the servants of God, under every trial that may befall 
them, for the sake of the truth as it is in our blessed Redeemer. 

Martyrdom of Thomas Watts. — Mr. Thomas Watts was 
born of pious and reputable parents, in the county of Essex. 
He was educated in the reformed religion, and during the reign 
of Edward VI. w r as a zealous professor of the Protestant faith. 
On the accession of queen Mary to the throne, apprehending 
that he should be persecuted, on account of his adherence to a 
religion contrary to that which was then introduced, he relin- 
quished the business of a linen draper, which he had carried on 
at Billericay, sold his goods, and made over his property to his 
wife and children. 

As he lived in the county of Essex, he came under the cog- 
nizance of lord Rich, before whom he was brought, and who 
demanded the reason of his disobeying the queen's laws, absent- 
ing himself from church, neglecting the mass, and setting up 
unlawful conventicles, contrary to her majesty's command. 

Mr. Watts replied, with composure, that if he had offended 
against the law, he was subject to the penalty of the law; upon 
which a justice of the peace then present inquired of him, 
" From whom he had imbibed his new-fangled religion ?" 
Watts upbraided the justice with hypocrisy, reminding him 



THOMAS WATTS. 117 

that, in the days of the late king, no one inveighed more strenu- 
ously against the Romish doctrines than himself, pronouncing 
the mass to be abominable, earnestly exhorting none to believe 
therein, and that their belief should be only in Christ ; nay, 
adding further, that whosoever should introduce any strange 
notion here, should be deemed a traitor, and punished as such. 

The justice reviled Watts as an insolent, lying knave, and 
persuaded the sheriff not to pay any regard to what he had said. 

Soon after this, information was given to bishop Bonner, that 
Thomas Watts maintained, inculcated and encouraged heretical 
opinions. In consequence of this he was brought into the con- 
sistory court in London, and there examined concerning the 
discourse he had with lord Rich and other commissioners at 
Chelmsford, when he publicly related the truth. 

The bishop used the most forcible arguments he could adduce 
to bring him to a denial of his " errors," and to be obedient to 
the holy mother-church. 

Mr. Watts, however, remaining inflexible, and praying to 
God that he might be enabled to hold out to the end in the true 
faith of Christ, sentence of condemnation was pronounced 
against him, and he was delivered up to the sheriffs of London, 
who conducted him to Newgate. 

On the 9th of June he was carried from Newgate to 
Chelmsford, his execution being appointed at that place on the 
11th. On the same evening he was conveyed there he was in 
company with Thomas Hawkes and others, and they all joined 
together in the most fervent prayer. 

The day before his execution he was visited by his wife, and 
six children, whom he addressed in the following manner : 

" My dear wife, and good children, the time of my departure 
is at hand, therefore, henceforth I know you no more ; but as 
the Lord hath given you unto me, so I give you again unto the 
Lord, whom I charge you to obey and fear : beware that you 
turn not to this abominable popery, as a testimony against which 
I shall shortly, by God's grace, shed my blood. Let not the 
murdering of God's saints cause you to recant, but take occa- 
sion thereby more earnestly to contend for the faith once deli- 
vered to the saints. My dear children, I trust God will be a 
merciful father unto you." 

This affecting address made such an impression on two of his 
children, that they desired to be burnt with him. Their sym- 
pathy for a time discomposed our martyr, the Christian giving 
way to the parent; but after having a little recovered himself, 
he embraced them with all the tenderness of a dying father, 



118 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

took his leave, and was led to the stake, where he quietly 
yielded up his spirit into the hands of Him who gave it, saying, 
" Into thy hands, God, I commend my spirit." 

Such was the attachment of this steadfast believer to the 
cause of his dear Lord and Master, that the affecting spectacle 
of his disconsolate wife, and six innocent babes, could not, in 
the least, stagger his resolution ; but he persevered in spite of 
all worldly considerations, being animated so to do by an assur- 
ance of an immortal crown of glory in his Redeemer's kingdom. 

About the same time that Mr. Watts suffered, three others 
shared the same fate, for their adherence to the truth of the 
gospel ; namely, Nicholas Chamberlain, weaver ; Thomas Os- 
mond, fuller; and William Bamford, weaver. The first of 
these was burnt at Colchester on the 14th of June ; the second 
suffered the next day at Maningtree ; and the third the following 
day at Harwich. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Martyrdom of the Rev. John Bradford, John Leafe, and others. 

The first of these martyrs was born at Manchester, where 
he received an education sufficiently liberal to qualify him for 
the more exalted offices of life, having attained to a considerable 
knowledge in classical and mathematical literature. 

On his arrival at years of maturity, having some distinguish- 
ed friends, by their interest he became secretary to Sir John 
Harrington, who was treasurer to Henry VIII. 

After having been in this office for some time, being of a stu- 
dious turn of mind, he quitted it, and went to Cambridge, where 
he made such great improvements, that at the end of one year 
that university conferred on him the degree of master of arts ; 
soon after which he was admitted to a fellowship in Pembroke 
college. 

At this time Martin Bucer, a zealous advocate for the reformed 
religion, resided at Cambridge. This person discovered a great 
regard for Mr. Bradford, and persuaded him to follow those 
studies which most conduced to qualify him for the work of the 
ministry. 

Mr. Bradford, having that diffidence which is generally the 
attendant on real merit, excused himself from assuming that 
important office, as not being sufficiently qualified ; but Bucer, 



RJSV. JOHN BRADFORD. 119 

at length, brought him to consent to enter on the solemn work, 
and he was ordained a deacon, by Dr. Eidley, bishop of Lon- 
don, who afterwards made him a prebendary of St. Paul's, 
where, in rotation, he preached, during three years, the true 
gospel of Christ ; the doctrines of salvation by faith, and repen- 
tance unto life, together with the necessity of a life of holiness, 
as the evidence of that faith. 

After the accession of queen Mary, Mr. Bradford continued 
his course of preaching, till he was obstructed by the following 
incident. 

In the first year of the reign of that princess, Bonner, then 
bishop of London, ordered Mr. Bourn, a canon of St. Paul's, 
and afterwards bishop of Bath, to preach a sermon, wherein he 
took occasion, from the gospel appointed for the service of the 
day, to justify Bonner, then restored to his bishopric, in preaching 
on the same text that very day four years, and enforcing doc- 
trines, for which, according to the terms of the preacher, he was 
thrown into the Marshalsea, and there kept prisoner during 
the time of king Edward VI. These words occasioned great 
murmurings amongst the people, nay, so incensed were they, 
that one of them threw a dagger at the preacher, and threatened 
to drag him from the pulpit, insomuch that he was obliged to 
withdraw, and desire Mr. Bradford to advance and endeavor to 
appease the people, who were so tumultuous, that they could 
not be quelled even by the authority of the lord mayor. 

As soon as Mr. Bradford ascended the pulpit, the people 
shouted, " God save thy life, Bradford !" and then quietly at- 
tended to his discourse, in which he reproved them for their 
disorderly behavior, and exhorted them to peace and tranquilli- 
ty ; on which, after he had finished, they peaceably dispersed. 

In the afternoon of the same day, Mr. Bradford preached at 
Bow church, when he took occasion to rebuke the people for 
their tumultuous behavior at St. Paul's in the morning. 

Three days after this incident, he was summoned before the 
queen and her council, and there charged as* the cause of the 
late riot about Bourn's preaching at St. Paul's, though he was 
the very person that preserved him from the outrage of the 
people, and appeased the tumult. He was also accused for 
preaching to the people at Bow church, though he then warmly 
exhorted them to peace. But nothing that he could allege in 
vindication of his innocence availed, for he was committed to 
the Tower on a charge of sedition, because they found he was a 
popular man, and greatly caressed by the people. 

He was confined above a year and six months, till the popish 



120 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS* 

religion was restored by act of parliament. He then took occa- 
sion to examine himself concerning his faith, because he could 
not speak against the doctrine of the church of Rome without 
incurring much danger ; whereas, while the laws of king Ed- 
ward were unrepealed, he might freely speak according to the 
dictates of his conscience, and the rules of God's most holy 
word. 

As Mr. Bradford would not admit of any tenets or practices 
but what were contained in the revealed word of God, he was 
deemed a heretic, first excommunicated, then condemned, and 
committed to the custody of the sheriffs of London, by whom he 
was conducted, the night before his execution, to the prison of 
Newgate ; and the following day brought to the stake, with the 
martyr whose sufferings for the faith we are about to relate. 

John Leafe was an apprentice to a tallow-chandler, and at 
the age of nineteen years, on an information laid against him 
of heresy, was committed to the Compter, by the alderman of 
the ward in which he lived. 

After being some time confined in that prison, he was brought 
before bishop Bonner, and by him examined concerning his 
faith in the sacrament of the altar, and other points ; to all 
which he answered in such a manner as gave little satisfaction 
to the tyrannical bishop. 

A few days after this he underwent another examination ; 
but his answers being the same as before, he was condemned, 
and delivered over to the secular power, for not believing that 
the bread and wine in the sacrament, by the words of consecra- 
tion, are changed into the very body and blood of Christ, really 
and substantially. 

After his condemnation, the bishop sent two papers to him, 
the one containing a recantation, and the other his confession. 
The messenger, after reading the former to him, (for he could 
neither read nor write himself,) asked if he would sign it ; to 
which, without the least hesitation, he answered in the nega- 
tive. He then read to him his confession, when he immedi- 
ately took a pin, and pricking his hand, sprinkled the blood 
upon the paper, desiring the messenger to show the bishop that 
he had already signed it with his blood. 

When these two martyrs were conducted to the place of exe- 
cution, in Smithfield, Mr. Bradford fell prostrate on one side of 
the stake, and Leafe on the other. In this position they conti- 
nued praying for some minutes, till Mr. Bradford was desired 
by the sheriff to make an end, and arise. 

On this they both arose, and after Mr. Bradford had made a 



MARGARET POLLEY. 121 

short harangue to the people, they were both fastened to the 
stake, and the reeds and fagots placed round them. 

Being thus prepared, Mr. Bradford, lifting up his eyes and 
hands to heaven, exclaimed, " England, England, repent thee 
of thy sins ; beware of Antichrist, beware of idolatry ; take heed 
they do not deceive you." Then turning to young Leafe, who 
was to suffer with him, he said, " Be of good comfort, brother, 
the time of our deliverance is at hand." The young man re- 
plied, " The Lord Jesus receive our departing spirits." 

The fire was then put to the fagots, and they both endured 
their sufferings with the utmost composure and resignation, re- 
posing an unshaken confidence in that blessed Redeemer who 
died to save mankind. 

Margaret Polley, first female Martyr in England. — ■ 
Such was the fury of bigoted zeal during the reign of Mary, 
that even the more tender sex did not escape the resentment of 
the Romish persecutors. These monsters in human form 
embraced every opportunity of exercising their cruelty, tyranny, 
and usurpation; nor could youth, age, or sex, impress on their 
minds the least feelings of humanity. 

Information being given against Margaret Polley, to Maurice, 
bishop of Rochester, she was brought before him. The haughty 
prelate exclaimed against her as an obstinate heretic, and, after 
much scurrilous language, told her, " she was a silly woman, 
knew not what she said, and that it was the duty of every 
Christian to believe as the mother church hath taught and doth 
teach." He then asked her the following question : " Will you, 
Margaret Polley, recant the error which you maintain, be recon- 
ciled to the * holy church, and receive the remission of sins?" 
To which she replied, " I cannot believe otherwise than I have 
spoken, because the practice of the church of Rome is contrary 
not only to reason, and my senses, but also to the word of God." 

Immediately on this reply, the bishop pronounced sentence 
of condemnation against her ; after which she was carried back 
to prison, where she remained for upwards of a month. 

During her imprisonment, she was repeatedly exhorted to 
recant ; but she refused all offers of life on such terms, choosing 
glory, honor and immortality hereafter, rather than a few short 
years in this vale of grief, and even those purchased at the ex- 
peffse of truth and conscience. 

• When the day appointed for her execution arrived, which 
was in July, 1555, she was conducted from the prison at Ro- 
chester to Tunbridge, where she was burned, sealing the truth 
of what she had testified with her blood, and showing that the 
11 



122 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

God of all grace out of the weakest vessel can give strength, 
and cause the meanest instruments to magnify the glories of his 
redeeming love. 

On the same day that Margaret Polley suffered, one Chris- 
topher Wade, a weaver of Dartford, in Kent, who had likewise 
been condemned by the bishop of Rochester, shared the same 
fate, and at the same place ; but they were executed separately, 
he first submitting to the dreadful sentence. 

About the same time, John Bland, John Frankesh, Nicho- 
las Sheterden, and Humphrey Middleton, were all burnt 
together at Canterbury. The two first were ministers and 
preachers of the gospel, the one being rector of Adesham, and 
the other vicar of Rolvindon, in Kent. They all resigned 
themselves to their fate with Christian fortitude, fervently pray- 
ing to God to receive them into his heavenly kingdom. 

Martyrdoms of John Launder and Dirick Carver. — John 
Launder, of Godstone, in the county of Surrey, husbandman; 
and Dirick Carver, of Brighthelmstone, in the county of Sussex, 
brewer, were apprehended in the dwelling-house of the latter, 
as they were at prayers, and sent up to the council at London, 
where being examined, and not giving satisfactory answers to 
the questions proposed, they were committed prisoners to New- 
gate, to wait the leisure and abide the determination of the cruel 
and arrogant bishop Bonner. 

Launder, on his examination, said, that the occasion of his 
being at Brighthelmstone, was to transact some business for his 
father, and that hearing Mr. Carver was a great promoter of 
the doctrines of the reformation, he went to his house, in order 
to join in prayer to God with the pious Christians which re- 
sorted thither, on which he was apprehended by Mr. Gage, an 
officer. 

He avowed his belief that " there is on earth one whole and 
universal Catholic church, the members of which are dispersed 
throughout the world; that the same church doth set forth and 
teach only two sacraments, which are, baptism and the Lord's 
supper ; that whosoever doth teach or use any more sacraments, 
or any other ceremonies, he doth abhor them from the bottom 
of his heart." He further said, " that all the service, sacrifices, 
and ceremonies, now used in this realm of England, and in 
other parts of the world where they are used after the same 
manner, are erroneous, contrary to Christ's institution, and the 
determination of Christ's Catholic church, whereof he believeth 
himself to be a member. That in the sacrament, called the 
sacrament of the altar, there is not really and truly contained, 



DIRICK CARVER. 123 

under the forms of bread and wine, the very natural body and 
blood of Christ in substance ; but that when he did receive the 
material bread, he received the same in remembrance of Christ's 
death and passion, and no otherwise. 

" Moreover, that the mass used in the realm of England, or 
elsewhere in Christendom, is abominable, and directly against 
God's word, and his Catholic church, and that there is nothing 
said or used in it good or profitable ; for though the ' Gloria in 
excelsisj the creed and pater-noster, and other parts of the mass, 
are good in themselves, yet being used amongst other things 
that are superstitious, they become corrupt. Lastly, that auri- 
cular confession is not necessary to be made to any priest, or to 
any other creature, but every person ought to confess his sins to 
God alone, because no earthly power has any authority to ab- 
solve any man from his sins." 

Having openly acknowledged and maintained these opinions 
in the bishop's consistory court, and refusing to recant, he was 
condemned, and delivered over to the secular power. 

Dirick Carver, being examined by bishop Bonner concerning 
his faith in the sacrament of the altar, the mass, auricular con- 
fession, and the religion then taught and set forth in the church 
of England, delivered the following, as his invariable tenets, 
because founded on the infallible word of the only living and 
true God. 

To the first point he declared, that " he had and did believe, 
that the very substance of the body and blood of Christ is not in 
the sacrament of the altar ; and that there is no other substance 
remaining in that sacrament, after the words spoken by the 
priest, but the substance of bread and wine." 

As to the mass, " he believed there was no sacrifice in it, nor 
any salvation for a Christian, except it was said in the mother- 
tongue, that he might understand it." 

With respect to auricular confession, " he believed that it was 
necessary to apply to a priest for spiritual counsel ; but that the 
absolution of the priest, by the imposition of hands, was not 
profitable to salvation ; acknowledging, at the same time, that he 
had not been confessed, nor received the sacrament, since the 
coronation of the queen." 

Concerning the last point, " he declared it as his opinion and 
belief that the faith and religion then taught and set forth was 
not agreeable to God's word, and that bishop Hooper, Mr. Card- 
maker, Rogers, and other pious men, who were lately burned, 
were sound divines, and preached the true doctrine of Christ." 

Being further examined, he confessed, " that since the queen's 



124 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

coronation he had the bible and psalter read in English divers 
times, at his house in Brighthelmstone ; and that, about twelve 
months then past, he had the English litany said in his house, 
with other prayers, in English." 

After these examinations he was strongly persuaded to re- 
cant, but this he peremptorily refused; on which, sentence of 
condemnation was passed on him at the same time as on Laun- 
der, and the time of his execution was fixed for the 22d of July, 
at Lewes, in Sussex. 

On his arrival at the stake he kneeled down and prayed ; and 
when he had finished his prayers, he arose, and addressed the 
spectators. Being then fastened to the stake, and the fire kin- 
dled round him, he patiently submitted to his fate, and expired, 
calling out, " O Lord, have mercy upon me ! Lord Jesus, re- 
ceive my spirit !" 

His fellow-prisoner, John Launder, was burnt the following 
day at Steyning ; where he cheerfully gave up his life to that 
God from whose hands he had received it. 

Martyrdom of John Denley, John Newman, and Patrick 
Packingham. — So perpetually were the popish emissaries in 
search of their prey, in all parts of the kingdom, that it was 
almost impossible long to escape them. As Mr. Denley and Mr. 
Newman were traveling together into Essex, on a visit to some 
friends, they were accidentally met by Mr. Tyrrel, justice of the 
peace for the said county, who, suspecting them of heresy, 
caused them to be apprehended and searched ; and at the same 
time took from Mr. Denley a confession of his faith in writing, 
concerning the sacrament of the altar, together with certain 
notes collected from the holy scriptures. 

The justice immediately sent them to London, and with them 
a letter to be presented to the council, together with the papers 
he found on the former. 

On their being brought before the council, they were admo- 
nished and desired to yield obedience to the queen's laws ; but 
this advice proving ineffectual, their examination was referred 
to Bonner, bishop of London. 

On the 28th of June, 1555, Denley and Newman, together 
with Patrick Packingham, (who had been apprehended two days 
before,) were brought before Bonner, at his palace in London. 

The bishop having examined the two former upon their con- 
fessions, and finding them inflexibly to adhere to the same, he 
used his customary exhortation ; on which Denley said, " God 
save me from your counsel, and keep me in the mind I am in; 
for that which you count heresy, I take to be truth." 



C0KER, HOOPER, AND OTHERS. 1§S 

On the 5th of July the bishop proceeded, in the usual form, 
against these three persons, in his consistory court at St. Paul's. 
After the various articles and their answers had been read, they 
were exhorted to recant, and both promises and threats were 
used by Bonner in order to prevail with them ; but on their re- 
maining steadfast in their faith and profession, they were all 
condemned as heretics, and delivered into the custody of the 
sheriffs of London, who conducted them to Newgate, where 
they were kept till writs were issued for their execution. 

Denley was ordered to be burned at Uxbridge, where, being 
conveyed on the day appointed, he was chained to the stake, 
and expired in the midst of the flames, singing a psalm to the 
praise of his Redeemer. A popish priest who was present at his 
execution was so incensed at his singing, that he ordered one of 
the attendants to throw a fagot at him, which was accordingly 
done, and he received a violent fracture in his skull, which, with 
the fire, soon deprived him both of speech and life. 

A few days after, Packingham suffered at the same place ; 
but Newman was executed at Saffron- Walden, in Essex. They 
both died with great fortitude and resignation, cheerfully resign- 
ing their souls into the hands of Him who gave them, in full 
expectation of receiving crowns of glory in the heavenly man- 
sions. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Martyrdoms of William Coker, William Hooper, Henry Law- 
rence, Richard Collier, Richard Wright, and William Steer, 

Information having been given, at the same time, against 
these six persons, they were all brought before Dr. Richard 
Thornton, bishop of Dover, and his assistants, in the spiritual 
court of Canterbury ; when various articles were respectively 
exhibited against them ; to all which they answered as men 
determined to adhere to the truth of that gospel they had pro- 
fessed, and were remanded to prison. 

Being again brought before the above persons, they were 
further examined, when William Coker declared he would an- 
swer no otherwise than as he had done before. Being offered 
six days' respite to consider of it, he refused to accept their in- 
dulgence ; in consequence of which he immediately received 
sentence of death, 

11* 



126 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

Hooper, at first, seemed to assent to the faith and determina- 
tion of the Roman Catholic church ; but, on serious reflection, 
he retracted, and firmly professed his faith in the pure gospel 
of Christ, as well as renounced the errors of popery. He was, 
therefore, also sentenced to be burned. 

Lawrence, who was next examined, denied auricular confes- 
sion, and " refused to receive the sacrament of the altar, because 
the order of the holy scripture was changed in the order of the 
said sacrament." Being asked concerning the verity of the 
sacrament given to Christ's disciples, he affirmed that " even as 
Christ gave his very body to his disciples, so likewise Christ 
himself said he was a door, &c. ;" adding, moreover, " that, as 
he said before, so he still said, that the sacrament of the mass is 
an idol, and no resemblance of Christ's passion." Being re- 
quired to subscribe to these articles, he wrote under the bill of 
examination as follows : " Ye are all of Antichrist, and him ye 
follow." He was then prevented from speaking further, and 
sentence of condemnation was pronounced on him in the usual 
form. 

Collier, being examined with respect to the sacrament of the 
altar, answered, " he did not believe there was the real and sub- 
stantial body and blood of Christ, but only bread and wine ; and 
that it was most abbminable, detestable, and wicked, to believe 
otherwise." In consequence of this, he likewise received sen- 
tence of death. 

Wright, being asked by the judge what he believed of the real 
presence in the sacrament, answered, "that, touching the sacra- 
ment of the altar and the mass, he was ashamed to speak of it ; 
nor would he, therefore, by any means allow it." In conse- 
quence of which he also received condemnation. 

Steer, the last examined, was required by the judge to an- 
swer the articles laid before him. But he denied the judge's 
authority, and observed, that Thomas Cranmer, archbishop of 
Canterbury, then in prison, was his diocesan ; and, therefore, 
required Dr. Thornton to show his authority from the arch- 
bishop, or otherwise he would deem it invalid. With respect 
to the sacrament of the mass, he said, "as he found not the 
popish belief contained in the scriptures, he entirely disbelieved 
it ;" in consequence of which he received the same sentence 
with his fellow-prisoners. 

These six men, being thus condemned for 'professing the truth 
of Christ's gospel, were immediately delivered over to the secu- 
lar power. They continued in prison, consoling each other 
daily in prayer, till the 31st of August, the day appointed for 



GEORGE TANKERFIELD. 127 

his execution, when they were conveyed to Canterbury, and 
there led to the stakes, of which there were three, two of them 
being chained to each. They all joyfully yielded up their lives 
as sacrifices to God, in testimony of their regard to the word 
of truth, "which abideth to all eternity." 



CHAPTER IX. 

Martyrdoms of George Tankerfield, Elizabeth Warne, Robert 
Smithy and others, 

George Tankerfield was brought up by his parents in the 
popish religion, to which he zealously adhered till the begin- 
ning of the reign of queen Mary, when the horrid cruelties ex- 
ercised on those who dissented from that church so strongly 
impressed his mind, that he began to detest the principles of 
that religion he had hitherto professed. 

In consequence of this, he applied himself, with great dili* 
gence, to obtain a knowledge of the scriptures, sought the direc- 
tions of unerring Avisdom, and the teaching of that Spirit which 
alone can lead unto all truth, and, by the grace of God, soon 
attained to a very competent knowledge of the doctrines of the 
reformed church, as well as detected the errors, superstition 
and idolatry of the popish faith. 

Being thus grounded in the great truths of the gospel, he 
communicated his sentiments to his most intimate friends, whom 
he exhorted to search the sacred records, nor be blindly led by 
such as imposed on them creeds, which, on examination, he 
found contrary to the divine mind and will as contained in the 
holy scriptures. 

This deviation from the principles he had before so warmly 
professed and zealously maintained excited the astonishment of 
his friends, and raised the resentment of the popish faction, 
especially those who were more immediately concerned in its 
restoration ; insomuch that Sir Roger Cholmondeley, and Dr. 
Martin, two of the queen's commissioners for ecclesiastical 
affairs, despatched a yeoman to Tankerfleld's house, in order to 
apprehend and bring him before them. 

Mr. Tankerfield being absent when the yeoman came in 
quest of him, it was pretended that he was wanted to dress a 
dinner at the house of lord Paget. When he came home, his 



128 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

wife told him that he was required to attend at a banquet ; to 
which he replied, " A. banquet, woman ! such a banquet as will 
not be pleasing to the flesh; but God's will be done." 

He was then seized by a constable, and committed to New- 
gate ; and after being confined there some time, was brought 
before, and repeatedly examined by, bishop Bonner, and others, 
concerning divers articles and tenets of religion. The bishop, 
in his usual manner, exhorted him to recant his opinions, de- 
claring them to be damnable heresies ; but Tankerfield assured 
his lordship that he would persist in his belief till it should be 
proved erroneous from scripture authority, being regardless of 
the tenets of the greatest prelate upon earth, if not founded on 
the word of eternal truth, declaring, at the same time, that the 
arbitrary commissioners for ecclesiastical affairs condemned 
persons without proving any thing against them. 

Bonner, with an affected concern for his interests, temporal 
and eternal, used many enticing words to bring him to the 
" mother church ;" but our martyr boldly told him, that the 
church of which the pope is supreme is no part of Christ's 
Catholic church ; and pointing to the bishop, he said, " Good 
people, beware of him, and such as he is, for these be they that 
deceive you." 

The bishop was so enraged at his resolute behavior, that he 
immediately proceeded to read the sentence of condemnation ; 
after which Mr. Tankerfield was delivered over to the secular 
power. The place allotted for his execution was St. Alban's in 
Hertfordshire. 

" He was brought to St. Alban's by the high sheriff of Hert- 
fordshire, Edward Brocket, Esq. and Mr. Pulter, of Hitchen, 
who was under-sheriff. They put up at the Cross-Keys inn, 
where there was a great concourse of people to see and hear 
the prisoner ; some were sorry to see so pious a man brought 
to be burned, others praised God for his constancy and perseve- 
rance in the truth. Contrariwise, some said it was pity he 
did stand in such opinions : and others, both old men and wo- 
men, cried against him; one called him heretic, and said it was 
pity that he lived. But Tankerfield spake unto them so effec- 
tually out of the word of God, lamenting their ignorance, and 
protesting unto them his unspotted conscience, that God did 
mollify their hardened hearts, insomuch that some of them de- 
parted out of the chamber weeping. 

" About two o'clock, when the sheriffs returned from dinner, 
they brought Mr. Tankerfield out of the inn to the place where 
he should suffer, which was called Romeland, being a green 



ELIZABETH WARNE. 129 

place near the west end of the Abbey church ; unto which when 
he was come, he kneeled down by the stake that was set up for 
him ; and after he had ended his prayers he arose, and with a 
joyful faith said, that although he had a sharp dinner, yet he 
hoped to have a joyful supper in heaven. 

" While the fagots were set about him, there came a priest 
and persuaded him to believe on the sacrament of the altar, and 
he would be saved. But Tankerfield cried vehemently, * I defy 
the whore of Babylon : fy on that abominable idol : good people, 
do not believe him.' And then the mayor of the town com- 
manded fire to be set to the heretic, and said, If he had but one 
load of fagots in the world, he would give them to burn him. 
Amidst this confusion, there was a certain knight who went 
unto Tankerfield, and taking him by the hand, said, ' Good 
brother, be strong in Christ;' this he spake softly; and Tanker- 
field said, ' O sir, I thank you, I am so, I thank God.' Then 
fire was set unto him, and he desired the sheriff and all the 
people to pray for him ; most of them did so. And so embrac- 
ing the fire, he called on the name of the Lord Jesus, and was 
quickly out of pain." 

Elizabeth Warne.— This pious woman, and steadfast be- 
liever in the pure gospel of Christ, (according to the dying 
request of her husband, who, some time before, had sealed the 
truth with his blood,) persisted in worshiping God according to 
the dictates of her own conscience, and the form she conceived 
was contained in the divine command. 

Information being given against her, she was apprehended in 

a house in Bow-churchyard, in company with several others, 

who were assembled for prayer and other spiritual exercises, 

and with them sent to the Compter, from whence she was com- 

i mitted to Newgate. 

She had been but a few days confined before she was sent for 
1 by the queen's commissioners, who, after some examination, 
gave her up to the bishop of London. 

The chief article alleged against her by Bonner was, her not 
beli-eving the real presence in the sacrament of the altar : she 
was also accused of absenting herself from church, speaking 
against the mass, despising the ceremonies of the holy mother 
church, &c. To these accusations she gave such answers as 
highly offended the bishop, who warmly exhorted her to recant 
her erroneous and heretical opinions. She replied, " Do with 
me what you will ; for if Christ was in an error, then I am in 
an error." 

On this peremptory declaration she was condemned as a here- 



130 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

tic, delivered to the sheriff of London, and conducted to Newgate. 
When the day appointed for her execution arrived, she was 
carried from Newgate to Stratford-le-Bow, where she suffered 
martyrdom for the cause of Christ and his gospel, in August, 
1555, following her husband through the path of a fiery trial, to 
the heaven of rest that awaits all the disciples of our blessed 
and glorious Redeemer. 

Eobert Smith. — This martyr was originally educated in the 
Roman Catholic religion ; but having for some time enjoyed a 
place under the provost of Eton college, he was converted to the 
true faith by the preaching of several reformed ministers in that 
learned seminary. By continually searching the scriptures, he 
soon became well acquainted with the doctrines of the gospel. 
He was also very exemplary in his life and conversation, attract- 
ing the veneration and esteem of all those who knew him. 

As he was known to profess the Protestant religion, he was, 
on the accession of queen Mary, deprived of his post in the col- 
lege, and soon after sent up prisoner to the bishop of London, by 
whom he was committed to Newgate, after having been exam- 
ined by him several times, at his palace, and in other places. 

After the articles against him were read, Mr. Smith remon- 
strated with the lord mayor, sheriffs, and others who were pres- 
ent on the occasion, in the following manner: turning to the 
lord mayor he said, "I require you, my lord, in God's behalf, 
unto whom pertaineth your sword and justice, that I may here 
before your presence answer to these objections that are laid 
against me, and have probation of the same ; and if any thing 
that I have said, or will say, be proved (as my lord saith) here- 
sy, I shall not only with all my heart forsake the same, and 
cleave to the truth, but also recant wheresoever you shall assign 
me, and all this audience shall be witness to the same." 

" If your chancellor will do me any good, and take any pains, 
as you say, let him take mine articles in his hands that you 
have objected against me, and either prove one of them heresy, 
or any thing that you do to be good : and if he be able so to do, 
I stand here with all my heart to hear him ; if not, I have no 
need, I praise God, of his sermon : for I come to answer for my 
life, and not to hear a sermon. " 

Then began the sentence, " In the name of God," &c. To 
which Smith answered, that he began in a wrong name, asking 
him where he learned in scripture to give sentence of death 
against any man for his conscience sake. To which he made 
no answer, but went on, and immediately cried, " Away with 
him," Then Smith turned to the lord mayor, and said, M Is it 



William andrew. 131 

not enough for you, my lord mayor, and you that are the sher- 
iffs, that you have left the straight way of the Lord, but you 
must condemn Christ causeless ?" 

" Though, my lord, you have here exercised your authority 
unjustly, and will not attend to the cry of the poor, I commit 
my cause to that God who judgeth aright, and will render unto 
every man according to his deeds ; that God at whose awful 
bar both you and I must stand without respect or authority, and 
where sentence will be passed without partiality, bigotry, or 
caprice, and according to the eternal laws of infallible truth." 

After this, Mr. Smith was carried back to Newgate, where he 
was closely confined till the 8th of August, which was appointed 
for his execution. On the morning of that day he was conduct- 
ed, under a strong guard, to Uxbridge, and there led to the 
stake. He bore his punishment with the most amazing forti- 
tude, in full hopes that he was giving up a temporary existence 
for one that would be immortal. 

About the same period that Mr. Smith was burnt, three oth- 
ers, who had been condemned by bishop Bonner, shared the 
same fate ; namely, Stephen Harwood, Thomas Fust, and 
William Hale. The first of these suffered at Stratford, near 
Bow ; the second at Ware, and the third at Barnet. 

George King, Thomas Leyes, and John Wade. — These 
three persons, being most cruelly used in Lollard's Tower, and 
falling sick there, were so weak that they were removed into 
different houses in the city, where they died, and were then 
thrown into the fields, and there buried in the night by some of 
the faithful brethren, none of whom, in the daytime, durst do it. 

The same Catholic charity was also shown to William An- 
drew, of Horsley, in the county of Essex, carpenter, who was 
brought to Newgate the first of April, 1555. His principal 
persecutor was lord Rich, who sent him to prison. 

Being twice examined before bishop Bonner, Andrew boldly 
stood in defence of his religion. At length, by the severe usage 
he met with in Newgate, he there lost his life, which otherwise 
would have been taken away by fire : and so after the popish 
manner he was cast out into a field, and by night was privately 
buried by the hands of good men and faithful brethren. 



£32 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

CHAPTER X. 

Martyrdom of the Rev. Robert Samuel, a?td others. 

Mr. Robert Samuel was a very pious man, and an eminent 
preacher of the gospel, according to the principles of the refor- 
mation, during the reign of Edward VI. He attended his charge 
with indefatigable industry, and by his preaching and living 
recommended and enforced the truth of the gospel. 

Soon after the accession of queen Mary, he was turned out 
of his living, and retired to Ipswich ; but he could not refrain 
from using his utmost efforts to propagate the reformed religion, 
and, therefore, what he was prevented doing in public, he did in 
private. He assembled those who had been accustomed to hear 
him in a room in his house, and there daily taught them such 
precepts as might lead them to salvation. 

While he was spending his time in this Christian manner, 
the queen commanded the commissioners for ecclesiastical af- 
fairs to publish an order, that all priests who had been married 
in the days of king Edward should put away their wives, and 
be compelled again to chastity (as their hypocritical term ex- 
pressed it) and a single life. 

This order Mr. Samuel could by no means obey, because he 
knew it to be abominable, contrary to the law of Christ, and 
every tie, social and humane. Therefore, determining within 
himself that God's laws were not to be violated for the traditions 
of men, he still kept his wife at Ipswich, and omitted no oppor- 
tunity of instructing his Christian friends in the neighborhood. 

At length, his conduct reaching the ears of Foster, a justice 
of peace in those parts, every artifice was used by that popish 
bigot to apprehend Mr. Samuel, who was at length taken into 
custody by some of his myrmidons, when on a visit to his wife 
at Ipswich. Many efforts had been made without success, but, 
at length, information having been given of the precise time 
when he was to visit his wife, they deferred their enterprise till 
night, (fearing the resentment of the people if they should at- 
tempt to apprehend him by day,) when great numbers beset 
him, and he quietly resigned himself into their hands. 

Being taken before Foster, he was committed to Ipswich jail, 
where he conversed and prayed with many of his fellow-suffer- 
ers, during his confinement in that place. 

In a short time he was removed from Ipswich to Norwich, 



REV. ROBERT SAMUEL. 133 

where Dr. Hopkin, the persecuting bishop of that diocese, and 
Dunning, his chancellor, exercised on him the most intolerable 
cruelties. 

Among all the inhuman wretches with which the nation 
abounded at that time, none could be compared for cruelty with 
these two tyrants ; for while the rage of others was generally 
satisfied with imprisonment and death, these were notorious for 
new-invented tortures, by which some of their prisoners were 
brought to recant, and others were driven into all the horrors 
of the most bewildered madness. 

In order to bring Mr. Samuel to recant, they confined him in 
a close prison, where he was chained to. a post in such a man- 
ner, that, standing only on tiptoe, he was, in that position, forced 
to sustain the whole weight of his body. 

To aggravate his torment, they kept him in a starving condi- 
tion twelve days, allowing him no more than two bits of bread 
and three spoonfuls of water each day, which was done in order 
to protract his misery till they could invent new torments to 
overcome his patience and resolution. 

These inhuman proceedings brought him to so shocking a 
state, that he was often ready to perish with thirst and hunger. 

At length, when all the tortures that these savages could 
invent proved ineffectual, and nothing could induce our martyr 
to deny his great Lord and Master, he was condemned to be 
burned, an act less cruel than what he had already suffered. 

On the 31st of August, 1555, he was taken to the stake, 
where he declared to the people around him what cruelties he 
had suffered during the time of his imprisonment, but that he 
had been enabled to sustain them all by the consolations of the 
divine spirit, with which he had been daily visited. 

As this eminent martyr was being led to execution, a young 
woman, who had belonged to his congregation, and received 
the benefit of his spiritual discourses, came up to him, and, as 
the last token of respect, cordially embraced him. This being 
observed by some of the bloodthirsty papists, diligent inquiry 
w r as made for her the next day, in order to bring her to the like 
fate with her revered pastor, but she happily eluded their search, 
and escaped their cruel intentions. 

Before Mr. Samuel was chained to the stake, he exhorted the 
spectators to avoid idolatry, and hold fast to the truth of the 
gospel ; after which he knelt down and prayed. 

When he had finished his prayer he arose, and being fastened 
to the stake, the fagots were placed round him, and immediately 
lighted. He bore his sufferings with a courage and resolution 
12 



184 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

truly Christian, cheerfully resigning this life of care and trou- 
ble in exchange for another, where death shall be swallowed 
up in victory, where the tears shall be wiped away from all 
eyes, and an eternity employed in singing the praises of that 
grace which has brought the redeemed of the Lord from much 
tribulation, and advanced them to mansions at the right hand 
of God, where are pleasures for evermore. 

About the same time that Mr. Samuel suffered, several others 
shared the same fate, for adhering to the principles of the re- 
formed religion. 

William Allen, a laboring man, was burnt at Walsingham, 
in Norfolk. 

Thomas Cob, a butcher, suffered at Thetford, in the same 
county. 

Roger Coo was an aged man, and was committed to the fire 
at Yoxford, in the county of Suffolk, where he most blessedly 
concluded his long-extended years, in the month of September, 
1555. 

Four others suffered about the same time at Canterbury, viz. 
George Cotmer, Robert Streater, Anthony Burward, and George 
Brodridge ; all of whom bore their punishment with Christian 
fortitude, glorifying God in the midst of the flames. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Sufferings and Martyrdoms of Robert Glover and Cornelius 
Bon gey, of Coventry ; and of William Wolsey and Robert 
Pigot, of the Isle of Ely. 

At the time Mr. Glover was apprehended, he lay sick at the 
house of his brother John Glover, who had secreted himself, on 
account of a warrant being issued to bring him before his ordi- 
nary, on a suspicion of heresy. 

Though Mr. Robert Glover was in great danger from the bad 
state of his health, yet such was the brutality of the popish em- 
issaries, that they took him out of his bed, and carried him to 
Coventry jail, where he continued ten days, though no misde- 
meanor was alleged against him. When the ten days were 
expired, in which he suffered great affliction from his illness, he 
was brought before his ordinary, the bishop of Lichfield and 
Coventry, who told him he must submit to ecclesiastical autho- 
rity, and stand reproved for not coming to church. 



CORNELIUS EONGEY. 135 

Mr. Glover assured his lordship, that he neither had nor 
would come to church, so long as the mass was used there, to 
save five hundred lives, challenging him to produce one proof 
from scripture to justify that idolatrous practice. 

After a long altercation with the bishop, in which Mr. Glover 
both learnedly and judiciously defended the doctrines of the 
reformation, against the errors and idolatries of popery, and 
evinced that he was able to " give a reason for the faith that 
was in him," he was remanded back to Coventry jail, where he 
was kept close prisoner, without a bed, notwithstanding his ill- 
ness ; nevertheless, the divine comforts enabled him to sustain 
such cruel treatment without repining. 

From Coventry he was removed to Lichfield, where he was 
visited by the chancellor and prebendaries, who exhorted him 
to recant his errors, and be dutiful to the holy mother church ; 
but he refused to conform to that, or any other church, whose 
doctrines and practices were not founded on scripture authority, 
which he determined to make the sole rule of his religious 
conduct. 

After this visit he remained alone eight days, during which 
time he gave himself up to constant prayer, and meditation on 
the exceeding precious promises of God, through our Lord Jesus 
Christ, to all true believers, daily amending in bodily health, 
and increasing in the true faith of the gospel. 

At the expiration of eight days, he was again brought before 
the bishop, who inquired how his imprisonment agreed with 
him, and warmly entreated him to become a member of the 
mother church, which had continued many years ; whereas the 
church of which he had professed himself a member was not 
known but in the time of Edward VI. 

After several other examinations, public and private, he was 
condemned as a heretic, and delivered over to the secular power. 

Cornelius Bongey (who was apprehended much about the 
same time as Mr. Glover, and suffered with him) was examined 
by Randolph, bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, and the follow- 
ing allegations brought against him : 

1. That he did hold, maintain and teach, in the city of Cov- 
entry, that the priest hath no power to absolve a sinner from 
his sins. 

2. That he asserted there were in the church of Christ but 
two sacraments ; baptism, and the Lord's supper. 

3. That in the sacrament of the popish altar there was not 
the real body and blood of Christ, but the substance of bread 
and wine even after consecration. 



136 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

4. That, for the space of several years, he did hold and de- 
fend, that the pope is not the head of the visible church on earth. 

Mr. Bongey acknowledged the justness of these allegations, 
and protested that he would hold fast to them so long as he 
lived ; in consequence of which he also was delivered over to 
the secular power. 

On the 20th of September, 1555, these two martyrs were led 
to the stake at Coventry, where they both yielded up their spirits 
to that God who gave them, hoping, through the merits of the 
great Redeemer, for a glorious resurrection to life immortal. 

John and William Glover, brothers to Robert, were sought 
after by the popish emissaries, in order to be brought to the 
stake, but they eluded their searches, and happily escaped. 
However, the resentment of the popish persecutors did not cease 
here, for after their deaths the bones of one were taken up and 
dispersed in the highway ; and the remains of the other were 
deposited in a common field. 

William Wolsey and Robert Pigot. — Information being 
laid against these two persons by the popish emissaries, they 
were sought after, and soon apprehended. William Wolsey 
was first taken, and being brought before a neighboring justice, 
was bound over to appear at the ensuing sessions for the Isle of 
Ely. But, a few days after, he was again taken into custody, 
and committed to Wisbeach jail, there to remain till the next 
assizes for the county. 

During his confinement here he was visited by the chancellor 
of Ely, who told him that he was out of the pale of the Catholic 
church, and desired that he would not meddle any more with 
the scriptures than became a layman. 

After a short pause, Mr. Wolsey addressed the chancellor as 
follows : " Good doctor, what did our Savior mean when he 
said, Wo be unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye 
shut up the kingdom of heaven before men ; ye yourselves go 
not in, neither suffer ye them that come to enter in ?" 

Dr. Fuller replied, "You must understand that Christ spake 
to the scribes and Pharisees." 

" Nay, Mr. Doctor," answered Wolsey, " Christ spake even to 
you, and your fellows here present, and to all such as you are." 

Robert Pigot was apprehended, and brought before Sir Clem- 
ent Hyam, who reproved him severely for absenting himself 
from church. The reason he assigned for his absence was, that 
" he considered the church should be a congregation of believ- 
ers, assembled together for the worship of God, according to the 
manner laid down in his most holy word ; and not a church of 



WOLSEY AND PIGOT. 137 

human invention, founded on the whimsical fancy of fallible 
men." 

In consequence of this answer, he was, with Wolsey, com- 
mitted to prison, where they both remained till the day appoint- 
ed for their execution. During their confinement, several of 
the neighbors came to visit them, among whom was Peter Va- 
lences, a Frenchman, chaplain to the bishop of Ely, who thus 
addressed them : " My brethren, according to mine office, I am 
come to talk with you, for I have been almoner here these twenty 
years and more, wherefore, my brethren, I desire you to take it 
in good part. I desire not to force you from your faith, but I 
require and desire you, in the name of Jesus Christ, that you 
stand to the truth of his gospel and his word ; and I beseech 
almighty God, for his Son's sake, to preserve both you and me 
in the same unto the end, for I know not, brethren, how soon I 
may be in the same case with you. ,, 

This address, being so different from what was expected, 
drew tears from all who were present, and greatly comforted 
our martyrs. 

On the 9th of October, Pigot and Wolsey were brought before 
Dr. Fuller the chancellor, and other commissioners for ecclesi- 
astical affairs, who laid several articles to their charge, but par- 
ticularly that of the sacrament of the altar. 

When that article was proposed, they jointly declared the 
sacrament of the altar was an idol, and that the real body and 
blood of Christ was not present in the said sacrament ; and to 
this opinion they said they would stand, though at the peril of 
their lives, being founded on the authority of God's word, which 
enjoined the worship of the supreme God alone. 

These two martyrs thus persevering in the faith of the pure 
gospel, sentence of death was passed, and they were both order- 
ed to be burned as heretics. 

On the 16th of October, 1555, the day appointed for their 
execution, they were conducted to the stake, amidst the lamen- 
tations of great numbers of spectators. Several English trans- 
lations of the New Testament being ordered to be burned with 
them, they took each one of them in their hands, lamenting, on 
the one hand, the destroying so valuable a repository of sacred 
truth, and glorying, on the other, that they were deemed worthy 
of sealing the same with their blood. 

They both died in the triumph of faith, magnifying the power 
of divine grace, which enables the servants of God to glory in 
tribulation, and count all things but dross, for the excellency of 
the knowledge of Christ their Redeemer. 
12* 



138 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 



CHAPTER XII. 

The Lives, Sufferings and Martyrdom of Hugh Latimer, Bish- 
op of Worcester ; and Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London. 

Hugh Latimer was born of humble parents at Thirkestone, 
in Leicestershire, about the year 1475, who gave him a good 
education, and sent him to Cambridge, where he showed him- 
self a zealous papist, and inveighed much against the reformers, 
who at that time began to make some figure in England. But 
conversing frequently with Thomas Bilney, the most considera- 
ble person at Cambridge of all those who favored the reformation, 
he saw the errors of popery, and became a zealous Protestant. 

Latimer, being thus converted, labored, both publicly and 
privately, to promote the reformed opinions, and pressed the 
necessity of a holy life, in opposition to those outward perform- 
ances which were then thought the essentials of religion. This 
rendered him obnoxious at Cambridge, then the seat of igno- 
rance, bigotry and superstition. However, the unaffected piety 
of Mr. Bilney, and the cheerful and natural eloquence of honest 
Latimer, wrought greatly upon the junior students, and in- 
creased the credit of the Protestants so much, that the papist 
clergy were greatly alarmed, and, according to their usual prac- 
tice, called aloud for the secular arm. 

Under this arm Bilney suffered at Norwich : but his suffer- 
ings, far from shaking the reformation at Cambridge, inspired 
the leaders of it with new courage. Latimer began to exert 
himself more than he had yet done, and succeeded to that credit 
with his party which Bilney had so long supported. Among 
other instances of his zeal and resolution in this cause, he gave 
one which was very remarkable : he had the courage to write 
to the king (Henry VIII.) against a proclamation, then just 
published, forbidding the use of the bible in English, and other 
books on religious subjects. He had preached before his majesty 
once or twice at Windsor ; and had been taken notice of by him 
in a more affable manner than that monarch usually indulged 
towards his subjects. 

But whatever hopes of preferment his sovereign's favor might 
have raised in him, he chose to put all to the hazard rather than 
omit what he thought his duty. His letter is the picture of an 
honest and sincere heart : he concludes in these terms : " Ac- 
cept, gracious sovereign, without displeasure, what I have 



HUGH LATIMER. 139 

written ; I thought it my duty to mention these things to your 
majesty. No personal quarrel, as God shall judge me, have I 
with any man: I wanted only to induce your majesty to consi- 
der well what kind of persons you have about you, and the 
-ends for which they counsel. Indeed, great prince, many of 
them, or they are much slandered, have very private ends, 
God grant your majesty may see through all the designs of evil 
men, and be in all things equal to the high office with which 
you are intrusted. Wherefore, gracious king, remember your- 
self; have pity upon your own soul, and think that the day is 
at hand when yeu shall give account of your office, and the 
blood which hath been shed by your sword : in the which day, 
that your grace may stand steadfastly, and net be ashamed, but 
be clear and ready in your reckoning, and have your pardon 
sealed with the blood of our Savior Christ, which alone serve th 
at that day, is my daily prayer to him, who suffered death for 
our sins. The spirit of God preserve you. 55 

Lord Cromwell was now in power, and being a favorer of the 
reformation, he obtained a benefice in Wiltshire for Latimer, 
who immediately went thither and resided, discharging his duty 
in a very conscientious manner, though much persecuted by 
the Romish clergy; who, at length, carried their malice so far 
as to obtain an archiepiscopal citation for his appearance in 
London. His friends would have had him quit England; but 
their persuasions were in vain. 

He set out for London in the depth of winter, and under a 
severe fit of the stone and colic ; but he was most distressed at 
the thoughts of leaving his parish exposed to the popish clergy. 
On his arrival at London, he found a court of bishops and can- 
onists ready to receive him ; where, instead of being examined, 
as he expected, about his sermons, a paper was put into his 
hands, which he was ordered to subscribe, declaring his belief 
in the efficacy of masses for the souls in purgatory, of prayers to 
the dead saints, of pilgrimages to their sepulchres and relics, the 
pope's power to forgive sins, the doctrine of merit, the seven 
sacraments, and the worship of images ; which when he refused 
to sign, the archbishop, with a frown, ordered him to consider 
what he did. " We intend not, 55 said he, " Mr. Latimer, to be 
hard upon you ; we dismiss you for the present ; take a copy 
of the articles ; examine them carefully ; and God grant, that at 
our next meeting we may find each other in better temper." 

At the next, and several succeeding meetings, the same scene 
was acted over again. He continued inflexible, and they con- 
tinued to distress him. Three times every week they regularly 



140 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

sent for him, with a view either to draw something from him 
by captious questions, or to tease him at length into compliance. 
Tired out with this usage, when he was again summoned, in- 
stead of going he sent a letter to the archbishop, in which, with 
great freedom, he told him, " That the treatment he had lately- 
met with had brought him into such a disorder as rendered him 
unfit to attend that day ; that in the mean time he could not 
help taking this opportunity to expostulate with his grace for 
detaining him so long from his duty ; that it seemed to him 
most unaccountable, that they, who never preached themselves, 
should hinder others ; that, as for their examination of him, he 
really could not imagine what they aimed at ; they pretended 
one thing in the beginning, and another in the progress ; that 
if his sermons gave offence, although he persuaded himself they 
were neither contrary to the truth, nor to any canon of the church, 
he was ready to answer whatever might be thought exceptiona- 
ble in them ; that he wished a little more regard might be had 
to the judgment of the people ; and that a distinction might be 
made- between the ordinances of God and man ; that if some 
abuses in religion did prevail, as was then commonly supposed, 
he thought preaching was the best means to discountenance 
them ; that he wished all pastors might be obliged to perform 
their duty ; but that, however, liberty might be given to those 
who were willing; that as to the articles proposed to him, he 
begged to be excused subscribing to them ; while he lived, he 
never would abet superstition ; and that, lastly, he hoped the 
archbishop would excuse what he had written; he knew his 
duty to his superiors, and would practise it ; but in that case, he 
thought a stronger obligation lay upon him." 

The bishops, however, continued their persecutions, but their 
schemes were frustrated in an unexpected manner. Latimer 
being raised to the see of Worcester, in the year 1533, by the 
favor of Anne Boleyn, then the favorite wife of Henry, to whom, 
most probably, he was recommended by lord Cromwell, he had 
now a more extensive field to promote the principles of the 
reformation, in which he labored with the utmost pains and 
assiduity. All the historians of those times mention him as a 
person remarkably zealous in the discharge of his new office ; 
and tell us, that in overlooking the clergy of his diocese, he 
was uncommonly active, warm and resolute, and presided in 
his ecclesiastical court with the same spirit. In visiting, he 
was frequent and observant ; in ordaining, strict and wary ; in 
preaching, indefatigable ; and in reproving and exhorting, severe 
and persuasive. 



HUGH LATIMER. 141 

In 1536, he received a summons to attend the parliament and 
convocation, which gave him a further opportunity of promoting 
the work of reformation, whereon his heart was so much set. 
Many alterations were made in religious matters, and, a few 
months after, the bible was translated into English, and recom- 
mended to a general perusal in October, 1537. 

Latimer, highly satisfied with the prospect of the times, now 
repaired to his diocese, having made no longer stay in London 
than was absolutely necessary. He had no talents, and he 
pretended to have none, for state affairs. His whole ambition 
was to discharge the pastoral functions of a bishop, neither 
aiming to display the abilities of a statesman, nor those of a 
courtier. How very unqualified he was to support the latter of 
these characters, the following story will prove : It was the cus- 
tom in those days for the bishops to make presents to the king 
on New-year's day, and many of them presented very liberally, 
proportioning their gifts to their hopes and expectations. 
Among the rest, Latimer, being then in town, waited upon the 
king, with his offering ; but instead of a purse of gold, which 
was the common oblation, he presented a New Testament, with 
a leaf doubled down in a very conspicuous manner at this pass- 
age — " Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." 

In 1539, he was summoned again to attend the parliament : 
the bishop of Winchester, Gardiner, was his great enemy : and, 
upon a particular occasion, when the bishops were with the 
king, kneeled down and solemnly accused bishop Latimer of a 
seditious sermon preached at court. Being called upon by the 
king, with some sternness, to vindicate himself, Latimer was so 
far from denying and palliating what he had said, that he nobly 
justified it ; and turning to the king, with that noble unconcern 
which a good conscience inspires, " I never thought myself 
worthy," said he, " nor did I ever sue to be a preacher before 
your grace ; but I was called to it, and would be willing, if you 
mislike it, to give place to my betters ; for I grant, there may 
be a great many more worthy of the room than I am. And if 
it be your grace's pleasure to allow them for preachers, I can be 
content to bear their books after them. But if your grace allow 
me for a preacher, I would desire you to give me leave to dis- 
charge my conscience, and to frame my doctrine according to 
my audience. I had been a very dolt, indeed, to have preached 
so at the borders of your realm, as I preach before your grace. " 
The boldness of this answer baffled his accuser's malice ; the 
severity of the king's countenance changed into a gracious smile, 
and the bishop was dismissed with that obliging freedom which 
this monarch never used but to those he esteemed. 



142 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

However, as Latimer could not give his vote for the act of 
the six papistical articles drawn up by the duke of Norfolk, he 
thought it wrong to hold any office in a church where such 
terms of communion were required, and therefore he resigned 
his bishopric, and retired into the country, where he purposed to 
live a sequestered life. But in the midst of his security, an 
unhappy accident carried him again into the tempestuous atmo- 
sphere of the court : he received a bruise by the fall of a tree, 
and the contusion was so dangerous that he was obliged to seek 
for better assistance than could be afforded him by the unskilful 
surgeons of that part of the country where he resided. With 
this view he repaired to London, where he had the misfortune 
to see the fall of his patron, the lord Cromwell ; a loss which 
he was soon made sensible of. For Gardiner's emissaries 
quickly found him out in his concealment, and a pretended 
charge of his having spoken against the six articles being 
alleged against him, he was sent to the Tower, where, without 
any judicial examination, he suffered, through one pretence and 
another, a cruel imprisonment for the remaining six years of 
king Henry's reign. 

On the death of Henry, the Protestant interest revived under 
his son Edward, and Latimer, immediately upon the change of 
the government, was set at liberty. An address was made to 
the protector, to restore him to his bishopric : the protector was 
very willing to gratify the parliament, and proposed the resump- 
tion of his bishopric to Mr. Latimer ; who, now thinking him- 
self unequal to the weight of it, refused to resume it, choosing 
rather to accept an invitation from his friend archbishop Cran- 
mer, and to take up his residence with him at Lambeth ; where 
his chief employment was to hear the complaints and redress 
the grievances of the poor people ; and his character for services 
of this kind was so universally known, that strangers from every 
part of England resorted to him. 

In these employments he spent more than two years, during 
which time he assisted the archbishop in composing the homi- 
lies which were set forth by authority in the reign of king Ed- 
ward : he was also appointed to preach the Lent sermons before 
his majesty, which office he performed during the first three 
years of his reign. 

Upon the revolution which happened at court after the death 
of the duke of Somerset, he retired into the country, and made 
use of the king's license as a general preacher, in those places 
where he thought his labors might be most serviceable. 

He was thus employed during the remainder of that reign, 



BISHOP RIDLEY, 143 

and continued the same course, for a short time, in the begin- 
ning of the next ; but as soon as the re-introduction of popery 
was resolved on, the first step towards it was the prohibition of 
all preaching, and licensing only such as were known to be 
popishly inclined. The bishop of Winchester, who was now 
prime minister, having proscribed Mr, Latimer from the first, 
sent a message to cite him before the council. He had notice 
of this design some hours before the messenger's arrival, but he 
made no use of the intelligence. The messenger found him 
equipped for his journey, at which expressing his surprise, Mr. 
Latimer told him that he was as ready to attend him to London, 
thus called upon to answer for his faith, as he ever was to take 
any journey in his life ; and that he doubted not but that God, 
who had already enabled him to preach the word before two 
princes, would enable him to witness the same before a third. 
The messenger then acquainting him that he had no orders to 
seize his person, delivered a letter, and departed. However, 
opening the letter, and finding it a citation from the council, he 
resolved to obey it, and set out immediately. As he passed 
through Smithfield, he said, cheerfully, " This place of burning 
hath long groaned for me." The next morning he waited upon 
the council, who, having loaded him with many severe re- 
proaches, sent him to the Tower, from whence, after some time, 
he was removed to Oxford. 

Nicholas Ridley, bishop of London, received the earliest 
part of his education at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, from whence he 
was removed to the university of Cambridge, where his great 
learning and distinguished abilities so recommended him, that 
he was made master of Pembroke hall, in that university. 

After being some years in this office, he left Cambridge, and 
traveled into various parts of Europe for his advancement in 
knowledge. On his return to England he was made chaplain 
to Henry VIII. and bishop of Rochester, from which he was 
translated to the see of London by Edward VI. 

In private life he was pious, humane, and affable : in public 
he was learned, sound and eloquent; diligent in his duty, and 
very popular as a preacher. 

He had been educated in the Roman Catholic religion, but 
was brought over to the reformed faith by reading Bertram's 
book on the sacrament ; and he was confirmed in the same by 
frequent conferences with Cranmer and Peter Martyr, so that 
he became a zealous promoter of the reformed doctrines and 
discipline during the reign of king Edward. 

On the accession of queen Mary, he shared the same fete 



144 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

with many others who professed the truth of the gospel. Being 
accused of heresy, he was first removed from his bishopric, then 
sent to the Tower of London, and afterwards to Bocardo prison, 
in Oxford ; from whence he was committed to the custody of 
Mr. Irish, mayor of that city, in whose house he remained till 
the day of his execution. 

On the 30th of September, 1555, these two eminent prelates 
were cited to appear in the divinity school at Oxford, which 
they accordingly did. 

Dr. Eidley was first examined, and severely reprimanded by 
the bishop of Lincoln, because, when he heard the " cardinal's 
grace" and the "pope's holiness'' mentioned in the commission, 
he kept on his cap. The words of the bishop were to this effect : 
" Mr. Ridley, if you will not be uncovered, in respect to the 
pope, and the cardinal his legate, by whose authority we sit in 
commission, your cap shall be taken off." 

The bishop of Lincoln then made a formal harangue, in 
which he entreated Eidley to return to the holy mother church, 
insisted on the antiquity and authority of the see of Rome, and 
of the pope, as the immediate successor of St. Peter. 

Dr. Ridley, in return, strenuously opposed the arguments of 
the bishop, and boldly vindicated the doctrines of the reforma- 
tion. — After much debate, five articles were proposed to him, 
and his immediate and explicit answers required. 

Not replying to the satisfaction of the court, he was ordered 
to appear the following day in St. Mary's church, in Oxford, to 
give his final answer. 

When Latimer was brought into court, the bishop of Lincoln 
warmly exhorted him to return to the unity of the church from 
which he had revolted. 

The same articles which were proposed to Dr. Ridley were 
read to Latimer, and he was required to give a full and satisfac- 
tory answer to each of them. 

His replies not pleasing the court, he was dismissed ; but 
ordered to appear in St. Mary's church, at the same time 
with Dr. Ridley. 

On the day appointed the commissioners met, when Dr. Rid- 
ley being first brought before them, the bishop of Lincoln stood 
up, and began to repeat the proceedings of the former meeting. 
The bishop of Gloucester, affecting much concern for Dr. Ridley, 
persuaded him not to indulge an obstinate temper, but recant his 
erroneous opinions, and return to the unity of the holy Catholic 
church. 

Dr. Ridley coolly replied, he was not vain of his own under- 



BURNING OF RIDLEY AND LATIMER. 145 

standing, but was fully persuaded that the religion he professed 
was founded on God's most holy and infallible church ; and 
therefore he could not abandon or deny the same, consistently 
with his regard for the honor of God, and the salvation of his 
immortal soul. 

He desired to declare his reasons why he could not, with a 
safe conscience, admit of the popish supremacy ; but bis request 
was denied. 

The bishop, finding him inflexible in the faith, according to 
the doctrine of the reformation, thus addressed him : " Dr. Rid- 
ley, it is with the utmost concern that I observe your stubborn- 
ness and obstinacy in persisting in damnable errors and heresies ; 
but unless you recant, I must proceed to the other part of my 
commission, though very much against my will and desire.'' 

Ridley not making any reply, sentence of condemnation was 
read ; after which he was carried back to confinement. 

When Latimer was brought before the court, being again 
warned to recant and revoke his errors, he refused, declaring that 
he would never deny God's truth, which he was ready to seal 
with his blood. Sentence of condemnation was then pronounced 
against him, and he was committed to the custody of the mayor. 

" Burning of Ridley and Latimer. — On the north side of 
the town, in the ditch over-against Baliol college, the place of 
execution was appointed : and for fear of any tumult that might 
arise to hinder the burning of the servants of Christ, the lord 
Williams was commanded by the queen's letters, and the house- 
holders of the city to be there assistant, sufficiently appointed ; 
and when every thing was in readiness, the prisoners were 
brought forth by the mayor and bailiffs. 

" Dr. Ridley had on a black gown furred, and faced with 
foins, such as he used to wear when he was a bishop ; a tippet of 
velvet furred likewise about his neck, a velvet night-cap upon his 
head, with a corner cap, and slippers on his feet. He walked 
to the stake between the mayor and an alderman, &c. 

" After this came Mr. Latimer in a poor Bristol frieze frock 
much worn, with his buttoned cap and kerchief on his head, all 
ready to the fire, a new long shroud hanging down to the feet : 
which at the first sight excited sorrow in the spectators, be- 
holding, on the one side, the honor they sometime had ; and 
on the other, the calamity into which they had fallen. 

" Dr. Ridley, as he passed toward Bocardo, looked up where 

Dr. Cranmer lay, hoping to have seen him at the glass window, 

and spoken to him. But Dr. Cranmer was then engaged in a 

dispute with friar Soto and his fellows, so that he could not sae 

13 



146 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

him through that occasion. Dr. Ridley then looking back, saw 
Mr. Latimer, coming after. Unto whom he said, * Oh, are you 
there V — ' Yea,' said Mr. Latimer, ' have after, as fast as I can/ 
So he following a pretty way off, at length they came to the 
stake. Dr. Ridley first entering the place, earnestly held up 
both his hands, and looked towards heaven : then shortly after 
seeing Mr. Latimer with a cheerful look, he ran to him, and 
embraced him, saying, ' Be of good heart, brother, for God will 
either assuage the fury of the flame, or else strengthen us to 
abide it.' 

" He then went to the stake, and, kneeling down, prayed 
with great fervor, while Mr. Latimer following, kneeled also, 
and prayed as earnestly as he. After this, they arose and con- 
versed together, and while thus employed, Dr. Smith began his 
sermon to them upon this text of St. Paul, in the thirteenth 
chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians : * If I yield my 
body to the fire to be burnt, and have not charity, I shall gain 
nothing thereby/ Wherein he alleged, that the goodness of the 
cause, and not the order of death, maketh the holiness of the 
person : which he confirmed by the examples of Judas, and of 
a woman in Oxford who of late hanged herself, for that they 
and such like as he recited, might then be adjudged righteous, 
which desperately separated their lives from their bodies, as he 
feared that those men who stood before him would do. But he 
cried still to the people to beware of them, for they were heretics 
and died out of the church. He ended with a very short ex- 
hortation to them to recant and come home again to the church, 
and save their lives and souls, which else were condemned. 
His sermon scarcely lasted a quarter of an hour. 

" At its conclusion, Dr. Ridley said to Mr. Latimer, ' Will 
you begin to answer the sermon, or shall I V Mr. Latimer said, 
' Begin you first, I pray you.' — ' I will,' said Dr. Ridley. 

" He then, with Mr. Latimer, kneeled to my lord Williams, 
the vice-chancellor of Oxford, and the other commissioners ap- 
pointed for that purpose, who sat upon a form thereby, and said r 
* I beseech you, my lord, even for Christ's sake, that I may 
speak but two or three words :' and whilst my lord bent his 
head to the mayor and vice-chancellor, to know whether he 
might have leave to speak, the bailiffs, and Dr. Marshal; the 
vice-chancellor, ran hastily unto him, and with their hands stop- 
ping his mouth, said, ' Mr. Ridley, if you will revoke your erro- 
neous opinions, you shall not only have leave so to do, but also 
your life.' — ' Not otherwise V said Dr. Ridley. — * No,' answered 
Dr. Marshal ; ' therefore if you will not do so, there is no reme- 



BURNING OF RIDLEY AND LATIMER, 147 

dy : you must suffer for your deserts.' — ' Well,' said the martyr, 
4 so long as the breath is in my body, I will never deny my Lord 
Christ, and his known truth: God's will be done in me:' with 
that he rose and said with a loud voice, ' I commit our cause to 
almighty God, who will indifferently judge all.' 

" To which Mr. Latimer added his old saying, ' Well, there 
is nothing hid but it shall be opened ;' and said he could answer 
Smith well enough, if he might be suffered. They were then 
commanded to prepare, immediately, for the stake. 

" They according with all meekness obeyed. Dr. Ridley 
gave his gown and tippet to his brother-in-law Mr. Shipside, 
who all the time of his imprisonment, although he was not suf- 
fered to come to him, lay there at his own charges to provide 
him necessaries, which from time to time he sent him by the 
serjeant who kept hirn. Some other of his apparel he also gave 
away, the others the bailiffs took. 

" He likewise made presents of other small things to gentle- 
men standing by, and divers of them pitifully weeping; to Sir 
Henry Lea^ he gave a new groat ; to my lord Williams's gen- 
tleman, some napkins, &c. ; and happy was he who could get 
the least trifle for a remembrance of this good man. 

" Mr. Latimer quietly suffered his keeper to pull off his hose, 
and his other apparel, which was very simple ; and being strip- 
ped to his shroud, he seemed as comely a person as one could 
well see. 

" Then Dr. Ridley standing as yet in his trouse, said to his 
brother, i It were best for me to go in my trouse still.' — 'No,' 
said Mr. Latimer, ' it will put you to more pain : and it will do a 
poor man good.' Whereunto Dr. Ridley said, * Be it in the name 
of God,' and so unlaced himself. Then being in his shirt, he 
stood upon the aforesaid stone, and held up his hand and said, 
1 heavenly Father, I give unto thee most hearty thanks, that 
thou hast called me to be a professor of thee, even unto death ; 
I beseech thee, Lord God, have mercy on this realm of Eng- 
land, and deliver it from all her enemies.' 

" Then the smith took a chain of iron, and wrought it about 
their middles : and as he was knocking in the staple, Dr. Rid- 
ley took the chain in his hand, and looking aside to the smith, 
said, ' Good fellow, knock it in hard, fcr the flesh will have its 
course.' Then Mr. Latimer brought him a bag of gunpowder, 
and tied it about his neck. Dr. Ridley asked him what it was, 
he answered gunpowder. ' Then,' said he, ' I will take it to be 
sent of God, therefore I will receive it. And have you any,' 
said he, ' for my brother V (meaning Mr. Latimer.) * Yea, sir, 



148 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS, 

that I have,' said he. l Then give it unto him,' said he, ' in 
time, lest you come too late.' So his brother went and carried 
it to Mr. Latimer. 

" Dr. Eidley said to my lord Williams, ' My lord, I must be 
a suitor unto your lordship in the behalf of divers poor men, 
and especially in the cause of my poor sister : I have made a 
supplication to the queen in their behalf. I beseech your lord- 
ship, for Christ's sake, to be a means to her grace for them. 
My brother here hath the supplication, and will resort to your 
lordship to certify you hereof. There is nothing in all the world 
that troubleth my conscience, (I praise God,) this only excepted. 
Whilst I was in the see of London, divers poor men took leases 
of me, and agreed with me for the same. Now I hear that the 
bishop who now occupieth the same room will not allow my 
grants made to them, but, contrary to all law and conscience, 
hath taken from them their livings. I beseech you, my lord, 
be a means for them : you shall do a good deed, and God will 
reward you.' 

" They then brought a lighted fagot, and laid it at Dr. Rid- 
ley's feet ; upon which Mr. Latimer said, ' Be of good comfort, 
Dr. Ridley, and play the man : we shall this day light such a 
candle by God's grace in England, as I trust never shall be put 
out.' When Dr. Ridley saw the fire flaming up towards him, 
he cried with an amazing loud voice, * Into thy hands, Lord, 
I commend my spirit ; Lord, receive my spirit ;' and continued 
often to repeat, ' Lord, Lord, receive my spirit.' Mr. Latimer, 
on the other side, cried as vehemently, ' O Father of heaven, 
receive my soul.' After which he soon died, seemingly with 
very little pain. 

" But Dr. Ridley, from the ill making of the fire, the fagots 
being green, and piled too high, so that the flames, being kept 
down by the green wood, burned fiercely beneath, was put to 
such exquisite pain, that he desired them, for God's sake, to let 
the fire come unto him : which when his brother-in-law hearing, 
but not very well understanding, to rid him out of his pain, (for 
which cause he gave attendance,) as one in such sorrow, and 
not well knowing what he did, heaped fagots upon him, so that 
he quite covered him, which made the fire so vehement be- 
neath, that it burned all his nether parts before it touched the 
upper, and made him struggle under the fagots, and often desire 
them to let the fire come to him, saying, * I cannot bum.' Yet, 
in all his torment, he forgot not to call upon God, still having in 
his mouth, ' Lord, have mercy upon me,' intermingling his cry, 
' Let the fire come unto me, I cannot burn.' In which pains he 




Barbarous Massacre of Irish Protestants, amounting to 150,000 souls y 

in 1641. 




Martyrdom of Bishops Ridley and Latimer, October 16th, 1555. 



fcRARACTKK OF LATIMER, 149 

labored till one of the standers-by, with his bill, pulled the fagots 
from above, and where he saw the fire flame up, he wrested 
himself to that side. And when the fire touched the gunpow- 
der, he was seen to stir no more, but burned on the other side, 
falling down at Mr. Latimer's feet ; his body being divided. 

" The dreadful sight filled almost every eye with tears. 
Some took it grievously to see their deaths whose lives they had 
held so dear. Some pitied their persons, who thought their 
souls had no negd thereof. But the sorrow of his brother, whose 
extreme anxiety had led him to attempt to put a speedy end to 
his sufferings, but who, from error and confusion, had so unhap- 
pily prolonged them, surpassed that of all ; and so violent was 
his grief, that the spectators pitied him almost as much as they 
did the martyr," 

Thus did these two pious divines and steadfast believers tes- 
tify, with their blood, the truth of the everlasting gospel, upon 
which depends all the sinner's hopes of salvation ; to suffer for 
which was the joy, the glory, of many eminent Christians, who, 
having followed their dear Lord and Master through much tri- 
,t bulation in this vale of tears, will be glorified forever with him, 
in the kingdom of his Father and our Father, of his God and 
our God. 

Mr. Latimer, at the time of his death, was in the eightieth 
year of his age, and preserved the principles he had professed 
with the most distinguished magnanimity. He had naturally a 
happy temper, formed on the principles of true Christianity. 
Such was his cheerfulness, that none of the accidents of life 
could discompose him ; such was his fortitude, that not even the 
severest trials could unman him : he had a collected spirit, and 
on no occasion wanted a resource ; he could retire within him- 
self, and hold the world at defiance. 

And as danger could not daunt, so neither could ambition 
allure him: though conversant in courts, and intimate with 
princes, he preserved, to the last, his primeval plainness : in his 
profession he was indefatigable ; and that he might bestow as 
much time as possible on the active part of it, he allowed him- 
self only those hours for nis private studies, when the busy world 
is at rest, constantly rising, at all seasons of the year, by two in 
the morning. How conscientious he was in the discharge of 
the public duties of his office, we have many examples. No 
man could persuade more forcibly ; no man could exert, on 
proper occasions, a more commanding severity. The wicked, 
in whatever station, he rebuked with censorial dignity, and 
13* 



150 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIAN^ 

awed vice by his firmness, more than the penal laws by theif 
punishments. 

He was not esteemed a very learned man, for he cultivated 
only useful learning ; and that he thought lay in a very narrow 
compass. He never engaged in worldly affairs, thinking that a 
clergyman ought to employ himself only in his profession. Thus 
he lived, rather a good, than what the world calls a great man. 
He had not those commanding talents which give superiority in 
business; but for purity and sincerity of heart, for true simpli- 
city of manners, for apostolic zeal in the cause of religion, 
and for every virtue, both of a public and private kind, which 
should adorn the life of a Christian, he was eminent beyond 
most men of his own, or any other time. 

As to his sermons which are still extant, they are, indeed, 
very far from being correct or elegant compositions, yet his 
simplicity and low familiarity, his humor and drollery, were 
well adapted to the times ; and his oratory, according to the 
mode of eloquence at that day, was exceedingly popular. His 
action, and manner of preaching, too, were very affecting; and 
no wonder, " for he spoke immediately from his heart." His 
abilities, however, as on orator, made only an inferior part of 
his character as a preacher. What particularly recommends 
him, is that noble and apostolic zeal which he continually exerted 
in the cause of truth. 

Mr. Ridley was no less indefatigable in promoting the re- 
formed religion, than his fellow-sufferer Mr. Latimer. He was 
naturally of a very easy temper, and distinguished for his great 
piety and humanity to the distressed. He persevered, to the 
last, in that faith he had professed, and cheerfully resigned his 
life in defence of the truth of the gospel. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Persecutions, Deaths and Martyrdoms of John Webb, George 
Roper, Gregory Parke, William Wiseman, James Gore, and 
John Philpot. 

Martyrdoms of John Webb, George Roper, and Gregory 
Parke, at Canterbury. — Mr. Webb was brought before Nicho- 
las Harpsfield, or his deputy, at Dover, on the 16th of Septem- 
ber, and there had propounded unto him such articles as were 



john fhilfot. 151 

commonly administered by Bonner to those of his jurisdiction, 
Being advised for the present to depart, and deliberate with 
himself upon the matter, against his next appearance, he an- 
swered, " That he would say no otherwise (by God's grace) 
than he had already said, which was, that the sacrament was 
simply a commemoration of the death of the Lord for his 
church ; and that the bread and wine underwent no transfor- 
mation." 

After this, on the 3d of October, and at several other times, 
Mr. John Webb, George Boper, and Gregory Parke, were all 
brought together before the said judge; and all of them stead- 4 
fastly adhering to the answer made before by Mr. Webb, were 
adjudged heretics ; and, in consequence, about the end of the 
same month, they were brought out of the prison together to 
the place of martyrdom ; praying and repeating psalms in their 
way. 

Being brought to the stake, and there fastened with a chain, 
they were burnt all together in one fire at Canterbury, most 
patiently enduring their torments, and accounting themselves 
happy and blessed of the Lord that they were made worthy to 
suffer for his sake. 

Death of William Wiseman, and of James Gore.- — On the 
13th of December, William Wiseman, a cloth-worker of Lon* 
don, died in Lollards' Tower, where he had been confined on 
account of his adherence to the gospel. It was suspected that 
he had been starved to death ; but the truth of this could not 
be ascertained. 

After his death, the papists cast him out into the fields, as 
was their usual custom with such of the Protestants as expired 
under their hands, commanding that no man should bury him. 
Notwithstanding their merciless commands, some pious Chris- 
tians buried them in the evening, as commonly they did all the 
rest thrown out in like manner, singing psalms together at their 
burial. 

In the same month also, James Gore, imprisoned and in 
bonds for his resistance of the popish abominations, died in 
prison at Colchester. 

History and Martyrdom of Mr. John Philpot. — Mr. Phil- 
pot was of a family highly respectable, (his father being a 
knight,) and was born in Hampshire. He was brought up at 
New College, Oxford, where he studied civil law, and other 
branches of liberal education, particularly the learned languages, 
and became a great proficient in the Hebrew. He was accom- 
plished, courageous, and zealous; ever careful to adorn his 



152 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

doctrine by his practice ; and his learning is fully evinced by 
what he has left on record. 

Desirous to travel, he went over to Italy, and journeying from 
Venice to Padua, he was in danger, through a Franciscan friar, 
who accompanied him, and* at Padua, sought to accuse him of 
heresy. At length returning to England, uncorrupted in his 
morals, and strengthened in his faith by beholding the monstrous 
absurdities and innumerable iniquities of Antichrist in his strong 
hold, and finding that the times permitted more boldness unto 
him, it being the reign of king Edward, he had several conflicts 
with bishop Gardiner, in the city of Winchester. 

After that, he was made archdeacon of Winchester, under 
Dr. Poinet, who then succeeded Gardiner in that bishopric, and 
here he continued during the reign of king Edward, to the great 
profit of those whom his office placed under his care. When 
the pious prince above named was taken away, and Mary, his 
sister, succeeded, her study was wholly to alter the state of reli- 
gion in England : and, first, she caused a convocation of the 
prelates, and other retainers of her faith, to be assembled for the 
accomplishment of her desire. 

In this convocation, Mr. Philpot, according to his degree, 
with a few others, sustained the cause of the gospel against the 
adversary, for which, notwithstanding the liberty of the house 
had promised before, he was called to account before the chan- 
cellor, by whom he was first examined. From thence he was 
removed again to bishop Bonner, and other commissioners, with 
whom he had divers conflicts. 

To relate the whole of the examinations, would only be a 
tedious repetition of the insolence of Bonner, of the pride and 
arrogance of the other bishops, and of points of dispute already 
discussed. 

Bishop Bonner having wearied himself with repeated inter- 
views and conferences with our Christian champion ; by turns 
insulting, threatening, and exhorting him, with equally hopeless 
effect, at length resolved to terminate the contest. Accordingly, 
on the 13th of December, he ordered him to be brought before 
him and others, in the consistory of St. Paul's, and thus ad- 
dressed him : 

" Mr. Philpot, amongst other things that were laid and object- 
ed against you, these three you were principally charged with. 

" The first is, That you being fallen from the unity of Christ's 
Catholic church, do refuse to be reconciled thereunto. 

" The second is, That you have blasphemously spoken against 
the sacrifice of the mass, calling it idolatry. 



JOHN PHILPOT. 153 

" And the third is, That you have spoken against the sacra- 
ment of the altar, denying the real presence of Christ's body 
and blood to be in the same. 

" And according to the will and pleasure of the synod legis- 
lative, you have been often by me invited and required to go 
from your said heresies, and to return to the unity of the Catho- 
lic church, which if you will now willingly do, you shall be 
mercifully and gladly received, charitably used, and have all 
the favor I can show you. And now to tell you true, it is 
assigned and appointed me to give sentence against you, if you 
stand herein, and will not return. Wherefore if you so refuse, 
I do ask of you whether you have any cause that you can show 
why I now should not give sentence against you." 

Philpot. " Under protestation, not to go from my appeal that 
I have made, and also not to consent to you as my competent 
judge, I say, respecting your first objection concerning the Ca- 
tholic church, I neither was nor am out of the same. And as to 
the sacrifice of the mass, and the sacrament of the altar, I never 
spoke against the same. And as concerning the pleasure of the 
synod, I say, that these twenty years I have been brought up in 
the faith of the true Catholic church, which is contrary to your 
church, whereunto you would have me to come : and in that 
time I have been many times sworn, both in the reign of king 
Henry VIII., and of Edward his son, against the usurped 
power of the bishop of Rome, which oath I think I am bound in 
my conscience to keep, because I must perform unto the Lord 
mine oath. But if you, or any of the synod, can, by God's 
word, persuade me that my oath was unlawful, and that I am 
bound by God's law to come to your church, faith, and religion, 
I will gladly yield unto you, otherwise not." 

Bonner then, not able with all his learned doctors to accom- 
plish this offered condition, had recourse, as usual, to his prom- 
ises and threats ; to which Mr. Philpot answered : 

" You, and all other of your sort, are hypocrites, and I wish 
all the world knew your hypocrisy, your tyranny, ignorance, 
and idolatry." 

Upon these words the bishop for that time dismissed him, 
commanding that on Monday the sixteenth day of the same 
month, he should again be brought thither, there to have the 
definitive sentence of condemnation pronounced against him, if 
he then remained resolved. 

The day being come, Mr. Philpot was accordingly presented 
before the bishops of London, Bath, Worcester, and Lichfield. 

The bishop brought forth a certain instrument, containing 



154 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

articles and questions, agreed upon both in Oxford and Cam- 
bridge. Also he exhibited two books in print; the one was the 
catechism composed in king Edward's days, in the year 1552, 
the other concerning the report of the disputation in the convo- 
cation-house, mention whereof is above expressed. 

Moreover, he brought forth two letters, and laid them to Mr. 
Philpot's charge ; the one was addressed to him by a friend, 
complaining of the bishop's ill usage of a young man named 
Bartlet Green ; the other was a consolatory letter from lady 
Vane. Besides these, was introduced a memorial drawn up by 
Mr. Philpot to the queen and parliament, stating the irregularity 
of his being brought to bishop Bonner, he not being of his dio- 
cese ; also complaining of the severity of his treatment. 

These books, letters, supplications, &c. having been read, the 
bishop demanded of him, if the book entitled " The true Eeport 
of the Disputation, &c." were of his penning, or not ? To this 
Mr. Philpot answered in the affirmative. 

The bishops growing weary, and not being able by any suffi- 
cient ground, either of God's word, or of the true ancient Catho- 
lic fathers, to convince and overcome him, began with flattering 
speech to persuade him; promising, that if he would revoke his 
opinions, and return to their Romish and Babylonical church, 
he would not only be pardoned that which was past, but also they 
would, with all favor and cheerfulness of heart, receive him 
again as a true member thereof. But when Bonner found that 
it would take no effect, he demanded of Mr. Philpot whether he 
had any just cause to allege why he should not condemn him 
as a heretic. " Well," quoth Mr. Philpot, " your idolatrous 
sacrament, which you have found out, you would fain defend, 
but you cannot, nor ever shall." 

In the end the bishop, seeing his steadfastness in the truth, 
openly pronounced the sentence of condemnation against him. 
In the reading whereof, when he came to these words, " and 
you, an obstinate, pernicious and impenitent heretic," &c, Mr. 
Philpot said, " I thank God that I am a heretic out of your 
cursed church ; I am no heretic before God. But God bless 
you, and give you grace to repent your wicked doings." 

When Bonner was about the midst of the sentence, the 
bishop of Bath pulled him by the sleeve, and said, " My lord, 
my lord, know of him first whether he will recant or not." 
Bonner said, " O, let him alone :" and so read forth the sen- 
tence. 

When he had concluded, he delivered him to the sheriffs ; 
and so two officers brought him through the bishop's house 



JOHN PHILPOT. 165 

into Paternoster-row, where his servant met him, and when he 
saw him, he said, " Ah, dear master !" 

M Content thyself," said Mr. Philpot, " I shall do well enough ; 
for thou shalt see me again." 

The officers then took him to Newgate, where they delivered 
him to the keeper. Then his man strove to go in after his 
master, and one of the officers said unto him, M Hence, fellow ! 
what wouldst thou have ?" And he said, " I would speak with 
my master." Mr. Philpot then turned about, and said to him, 
" To-morrow thou shalt speak with me." 

When the under keeper understood it to be his servant, he 
gave him leave to go in with him. And Mr. Philpot and his 
man were turned into a little chamber on the right hand, and 
there remained a short time, when Alexander, the chief keeper, 
came unto him; who said, "Ah, hast thou not done well to 
bring thyself hither ?"— " Well," said Mr. Philpot, "I must be 
content, for it is God's appointment; and I shall desire you to 
let me have your gentle favor, for you and I have been of old 
acquaintance." 

" If you will recant," said the keeper, " I will show you any 
pleasure I can." — " Nay," said Mr. Philpot, " I will never recant 
that which I have spoken, whilst I have my life, for it is most 
certain truth, and in witness hereof, I will seal it with my 
blood." Then Alexander said, "This is the saying of the 
whole pack of you heretics." Whereupon he commanded him 
to be set upon the block, and as many irons to be put upon his 
legs as he could bear. 

Then the clerk told Alexander in his ear, that Mr. Philpot 
had given his man money. Alexander said to him, " What 
money hath thy master given thee ?" He answered, " My 
master hath given me none." — " No ?" said Alexander, " hath 
he given thee none ? That I will know, for I will search thee." 

" Do with me as you like, and search me all that you can," 
quoth his servant ; " he hath given me a token or two to send 
to his friends, to his brothers and sisters." — " Ah," said Alexan- 
der unto Mr. Philpot, " thou art a maintainer of heretics ; thy 
man should have gone to some of thy affinity, but he shall be 
known well enough." — " Nay," said Mr. Philpot, "I do send it 
to my friends ; there he is, let him make answer to it. But, 
good Mr. Alexander, be so much my friend, that these irons 
may be taken off."— " Well," said Alexander, " give me my fees, 
and I will take them off; if not, thou shalt wear them still." 

Then said Mr. Philpot, " Sir, what is your fee ?" He said, 
•'Four pounds."— " Ah," said Mr. Philpot, "I have not so 



156 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS, 

much ; I am but a poor man, and I have been long in prison."— 
"What wilt thou give me, then?" said Alexander. "Sir," 
said he, " I will give thee twenty shillings, and that I will send 
my man for, or else I will give thee my gown in pledge ; for 
the time is not long, I am sure, that I shall be with you ; for the 
bishop said unto me that I should soon be despatched." 

" What is that to me ?" said Alexander. And with that he 
departed from him, and commanded him to be put in a dun- 
geon ; but before he could be taken from the block, the clerk 
would have a groat. 

Then one Witterence, steward of the house, took him on his 
back, and carried him down, his man knew not whither. 
Wherefore Mr. Philpot said to his servant, " Go to the sheriff, 
and show him how I am used, and desire him to be good to 
me:" and so his servant went, and took another person with him. 

When they came to the sheriff, and showed him how Mr. 
Philpot was treated in Newgate, he took his ring from off his 
finger, and delivered it to the person that came with Mr. Phil- 
pots man, and bade him go unto Alexander the keeper, and 
commanded him to take off his irons, and to handle him more 
gently, and to give his man again that which he had taken from 
him. 

And when they returned to Alexander, and delivered their 
message from the sheriff, he took the ring, and said, " Ah I 
perceive that Mr. sheriff is a bearer with him, and all such 
heretics as he is, therefore to-morrow I will show it to his bet- 
ters :" yet at ten o'clock he went to Mr. Philpot where he lay, 
and took off his irons, and gave him such things as he had be- 
fore taken from his servant. 

Upon Tuesday, the 17th of December, while he was at sup- 
per, there came a messenger from the sheriffs, and bade Mr. 
Philpot make ready, for the next day he should suffer, and be 
burned at the stake. Mr. Philpot answered, " I am ready ; God 
grant me strength, and a joyful resurrection." And so he went 
into his chamber, and poured out his spirit unto the Lord God, 
giving him most hearty thanks that he had made him worthy 
to suffer for his truth. 

In the morning the sheriffs came according to order, about 
eight o'clock, and calling for him, he most joyfully came down 
to them. And there his man met him, and said, " Ah, dear 
master, farewell." His master answered, " Serve God, and he 
will help thee." And so he went with the sheriffs to the place 
of execution ; and when he was entering into Smithfield, the 
way was foul, and two officers took him up to bear him to the 



REV* THOMAS WHITTLE. 15V 

stake. Then he said merrily, " What, will you make me a 
pope ? I am content to go to my journey's end on foot." But, 
on entering Smithfleld, he kneeled down and said, " I will pay 
my vows in thee, Smithfleld." 

On arriving at the place of suffering, he kissed the stake, and 
said, " Shall I disdain to suffer at the stake, seeing my Re- 
deemer did not refuse to suffer the most vile death upon the 
cross for me ?" And then with an obedient heart he repeated 
the 108th, 107th and lOSth Psalms : and when he had made an 
end of all his prayers, he said to the officers, " What have you 
done for me ?" And when they severally declared what they 
had done, he gave money to them. 

They then bound him to the stake, and lighted the fire, when 
the blessed martyr soon resigned his soul into the hands of Him 
who gave it. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

History of Thomas Whittle, Bartlet Green, John Tudson, John 
Went, Thomas Browne, Isabel Foster, and Joan Warne, oth- 
wise Lashford, who were all burned at Smithfleld, January 
27, 1558; 

The above martyrs were all condemned under one general 
form of articles objected against them, and which ran, as usual, 
upon the common points of doctrine, namely, their denial of the 
pope's supremacy ; their objections to the errors of the mass, 
&c. in the Romish church, and their refusal to attend the same, 
with their public avowal of their abhorrence to the whole. 
They severally answered to the various objections with all the 
boldness and simplicity of truth. 

We shall give a brief relation of their stories, beginning with 
The Rev. Thomas Whittle. — Mention has been made in 
the account of Mr. Philpot, of a married priest, whom he found 
in bishop Bonner's coal-house at his first going thither, in heavi- 
ness of mind and great sorrow, for recanting the doctrine he had 
taught in king Edward's days, whose name was Thomas Whit- 
tle, of Essex. This Thomas Whittle, after he had been expel- 
led from the place in Essex where he served, became an itiner- 
ant preacher, sowing the gospel of Christ wherever he found 
opportunity. At length being apprehended by one Edmund 
Alablaster, in hope of reward and promotion, he was brought 
14 



158 SUFFERINGS OF EARLV CHRISTIANS. 

first as prisoner before the bishop of Winchester, who then was 
lately fallen sick of the disease whereof not long after he died. 
But the apprehender for his proffered service was checked by 
the bishop, who asked, " If there were no man to whom he 
might bring such rascals but to him ? Hence ! out of my sight, 
thou varlet," cried he ; " why dost thou trouble me with such 
matters?" The cormorant, being thus defeated of his desired 
prey, yet unwilling to give it up, carried his prisoner to the 
bishop of London. 

At his last examination before the bishop, upon the 14th day 
of January, 1556, bishop Bonner, with others, sitting in his 
consistory in the afternoon, first called forth Thomas Whittle, 
with whom he began as follows : " Because you be a priest," 
said he, " as I and other bishops here be, and did receive the 
order of priesthood after the rite and form of the Catholic church, 
you shall not think but I will administer justice as well unto 
you as unto others." 

Bonner then charged him with several articles, to which 
Whittle made spirited and pertinent replies : when the bishop, 
finding that neither threats nor entreaties had any effect on him, 
forthwith proceeded to his degradation. 

Whittle, in the midst of the ceremonies, when he saw them 
so busy in degrading him, said unto them, " Paul and Titus 
had not so much to do with their priests and bishops." And, 
speaking to the bishop, he said, " My lord, your religion stand- 
eth most with the church of Rome, and not with the Catholic 
church of Christ." 

The bishop, after this, according to his accustomed formal 
proceedings, tried him yet again with words, rather than with 
substantial arguments. But Whittle, strengthened with the 
grace of the Lord, stood strong and immovable in what he had 
affirmed. Wherefore, the sentence being read, the next day he 
was committed to the secular power, and in a few days after 
brought to the fire with the six persons above named, sealing 
the testimony of his doctrine with his blood, which he willingly 
and cheerfully gave for witness of the truth. 

Bartlet Green was of a respectable family, and was blessed 
with parents who, understanding the value of a good education, 
were anxious to bestow one upon their son. After having 
been placed at preparatory schools, he was sent to the university 
of Oxford, where, by his diligence, he made great advances in 
his studies ; but was, for a time, so far from feeling any interest 
in eternal things, that he was utterly averse to the subject. 
At length, by attending the lectures of Peter Martyr, then 



BARTLET GREEN. 159 

reader of the divinity lecture, his mind was struck with the 
importance of religion. 

When he had once tasted of this, it became unto him as the 
fountain of living water that our Savior Christ spake of to the 
woman of Samaria ; insomuch that when he was called by his 
friends from the university, and was placed in the Temple at 
London, there to study the common laws of the realm, he still 
continued, with great earnestness, to read and search the scrip- 
tures. 

For the better maintenance of himself in his studies, and other 
his affairs, he had a large allowance of his grandfather, Dr. 
Bartlet, who during the time of Green's imprisonment made 
him offers of great livings, if he would recant, and return to the 
church of Rome. But his persuasions took no effect on his 
grandson's faithful heart. He was a man beloved of all, (ex- 
cept the papists, who esteem none that love the truth,) and so 
he well deserved ; for he was of a meek, humble, discreet and 
gentle behavior to all ; injurious to none, beneficial to many, 
especially to those who were of the household of faith. 

The clause of Mr. Green's sufferings originated from a letter 
of his being intercepted. This letter was written to an exiled 
friend, who having, in a letter to Mr. Green, amongst other 
things, asked whether the queen was dead, as a report of that 
nature had been circulated on the continent ; Mr. Green, after 
answering other questions, briefly said in his letter, " The queen 
is not dead. 11 

These letters, with many others, written to the godly exiles 
by their friends in England, being delivered to a messenger to 
carry over, came, by the apprehension of the bearer, into the 
hands of the council, who perused the whole of them, and 
amongst them found that of Mr. Green, written to his friend 
Christopher Goodman; in the contents wnereof they found the 
words mentioned above ; which words were only written as a 
simple answer to a question. Howbeit, to some of the council 
they seemed very heinous words, yea, treason they would have 
made them, if the law would have suffered. Which when they 
could not do, they then examined him upon his faith in religion. 

His answers displeased them ; he was committed to prison, 
and, after being confined for some time, was, at length, sent to 
bishop Bonner. 

Many conferences and examinations they brought him to. 
But in the end, (seeing his steadiness of faith to be such 
that neither their threatenings nor their flattering promises 
could prevail against it,) the 15th day of January, the bishop 



160 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

caused him, with the others before mentioned, to be brought 
into the consistory of St. Paul's; where being set in his judg- 
ment-seat, accompanied by Fecknam, his dean, and his chap- 
lains, after he had condemned the other six, he called for Bartlet 
Green, and again repeated the articles to him. After which Dr. 
Fecknam disputed with him upon the real presence of Christ in 
the sacrament, &c. At length, impatient of longer delay, Bon- 
ner demanded if he would recant and return to his Romish 
mother ; and on his answering in the negative, he pronounced 
the definitive sentence against him, and then committed him to 
the sheriffs of London, who sent him to Newgate. 

As he was going thither, two gentlemen met him, particular 
friends, who wished to comfort this their persecuted brother, but 
their hearts not being able to contain their sorrow, " Ah, my 
dear friends," said the martyr, " is this the comfort you are 
come to give me, in this my occasion of heaviness ? Must I, 
who needed to have consolation ministered to me, become now 
a comforter of you ?" And thus declaring his most quiet 
peaceable mind and conscience, he cheerfully spake to them 
and others, until he came to the prison door, into which he 
joyfully entered, and there remained either in prayer or medita- 
tion until the 28th of January, when he, with his brethren, went 
most cheerfully to the place of their torments. 

Thomas Brown was born in the parish of Histon, in the dio- 
cese of Ely, and came afterwards to London, where he dwelt in 
the parish of St. Bride's, in Fleet street. He was a married 
man, aged thirty-seven, and his troubles first arose because he 
came not to his parish church, for which neglect he was pre- 
sented by the constable of the parish to bishop Bonner. Being 
brought to Fulham with the others to be examined, he was re- 
quired to come into the chapel to hear mass, which he refusing 
to do, went into the warren, and there kneeled among the trees. 
For this he was greatly charged by the bishop, as for a heinous 
matter, because he said it was done in despite and contempt of 
their mass. At length being brought to his last examination 
before the said bishop, on the 15th of January, there to hear the 
definitive sentence against him, he was required, with many 
fair words and glossing promises, to revoke his doctrine. But 
he resisted with steadfast faith, and told the bishop he was a 
bloodsucker. 

After this, Bonner read the sentence against him; which 
being done, he was committed to the sheriffs to be burned on 
the day appointed. 

John Ttjdson was also brought forth unto the like condem- 



JOHN WENT— ISABEL FOSTER— JOAN WARNE. 161 

nation. He was born in Ipswich, and apprenticed in London 
to George Goodyear. Being complained of to Sir Richard 
Cholmley and Dr. Story, he was by them sent to Bonner, and 
was divers times before him in examination. 

On his last examination, when the bishop promised, on con- 
dition of his recanting, to forgive him all his offences, he de- 
manded wherein he had offended. Then said the bishop, " In 
your answers." — u No," replied Tudson, "I have not therein 
offended ; and you, my lord, pretend charity, but nothing thereof 
appeareth in your works." Thus, after a few words, the bishop 
pronounced against him sentence of condemnation ; which being 
read, the martyr was committed to the secular power, and so 
with much patience finished this life with his fellows on the 
28th day of January. 

John Went, born in Langham, in Essex, was twenty-seven 
years of age. He was first examined by Dr. Story, upon the 
sacrament of the altar; and because the poor man did not ac- 
cord with him thoroughly in the real presence of the body and 
blood of Christ, Dr. Story sent him to Bonner, who likewise, 
after various examinations upon the articles in the consistory, 
attempted the like manner of persuasions with him as he did 
to the others, to recant and return. To whom, in very few 
words, Went answered, " He would not ; but that, by the leave 
of God, he would stand firm and constant in what he had said." 
Whereupon being condemned by the bishop's sentence, he was 
committed unto the sheriffs, and so brought to his martyrdom, 
which he with no less constancy suffered to the end, with the 
rest of that blessed society. 

Isabel Foster was born in Grafestock, in the diocese of Car- 
lisle, and was the wife of John Foster, cutler, of St. Bride's, 
Fleet street. She likewise, for not coming to their church, was 
sent to bishop Bonner, who put her in prison, and examined her 
sundry times, but she would never be removed from the constant 
confession of Christ's gospel. 

At length, coming unto her final examination before the bish- 
op, she was tried again, whether she would yet go from her 
former answers. Whereunto she gave a resolute answer ; " I 
will not," said she, "go from them, by God's grace." The 
bishop promising both life and liberty if she would associate 
herself in the unity of the Catholic church, she said again, 
"that she trusted she was never out of the Catholic church ;" 
and so persisting in the same, continued constant till the sen- 
tence was pronounced, when she was committed by command 
14* 



162 SUFFERINGS OF EAULY CHRISTIANS. 

of the bishop to the secular power, and so brought a few days 
after to the stake, being fifty-five years of age. 

Joan Lashford, alias Warne, was the daughter of Elizabeth 
Warne, by her first husband, Robert Lashford. The reader 
may remember the story of John and Elizabeth Warne, who 
both suffered for the cause of truth, as related in a former part 
of this book ; and when her father and mother were in prison, 
Joan, then about twenty years of age, attended upon them and 
administered to their wants with all the tenderness and affection 
of a dutiful child. She was soon discovered to hold the same 
doctrines as her parents, and was, in consequence, sent to Bon- 
ner, bishop of London, by Dr. Story, and so committed to the 
Poultry Compter, where she remained about five weeks, and 
from thence she was conveyed to Newgate, where she continued 
some months. 

After that, remaining prisoner in the custody of Bonner, and 
being examined, her confession was, that, for above a twelve- 
month before, she came not to the popish mass service in church, 
neither would, either to receive the sacrament of the altar, 
or to be confessed, because her conscience would not suffer her 
so to do ; protesting against the real presence of Christ's body 
and blood ; and denying that auricular confession, or absolution 
after the popish sort, was necessary ; but said, that both the said 
sacraments, confession and absolution, and the mass, with all 
their other superfluous sacraments, ceremonies, and divine ser- 
vice, as then used in this realm of England, were most vile, 
and contrary to Christ's word and institution ; so that they were 
neither at the beginning, nor shall be at the latter end. This 
resolute maid, feeble and tender of age, yet strong by grace in 
her confession and faith, stood so firm, that neither the promises 
nor the threats of the bishop could turn her ; and on being 
exhorted by the bishop to return to the Catholic unity of the 
church, she boldly said, " If you will leave off your abomina- 
tion, I will return, and otherwise I will not. Do as it pleaseth 
you, and I pray God that you may do that which may please 
him." 

And thus she constantly persevering in the truth, was con- 
demned and committed to the sheriffs, by whom she with the 
rest was brought unto the stake, and there washed her clothes 
in the blood of the Lamb. 

Their Martyrdoms. — On the 28th of January, 1556, these 
seven believers in and faithful servants of Christ were conducted 
from Newgate to Smithfield, there to endure the last torments 
that could be inflicted on them by their cruel persecutors. They 



JOHN LOMAS. 16S 

all went with great cheerfulness, singing hymns to the praise 
of their Redeemer, both in the way to, and at the place of, exe- 
cution. Bartlet Green, in particular, frequently repeated the 
following lines : 

O Christ, my God, sure hope of health, 

Besides thee I have none : 
The truth I love, and falsehood hate j 

Be thou my guide alone. 

They were chained to three different stakes, but consumed 
together in one fire, freely yielding up their lives in testimony 
of the truth, and sealing with their blood the doctrines of that 
gospel they had so zealously supported. 



CHAPTER XV . 

History of John Lomas, Anne Albright, Joan Catmer, Agnes 
Snoth, and Joan Sole, who were burnt at Canterbury, in 
one fire. 

These martyrs suffered for the truth of the gospel, on the 
31st day of January, 1556. 

John Lomas, of the parish of Tenterden, was discovered to 
be of that religion which the papists call heresy, and cited upon 
the same to appear at Canterbury, where he was examined as 
to whether she believed the Catholic church or not ; he answer- 
ed, that " he believed so much as was contained in God's book, 
and no more." 

He was then ordered to appear again on the following 
Wednesday, which was the 17th day of January, when he was 
examined whether he would be confessed by a priest or not ; 
he said, that " he found it not written that he should be con- 
fessed to any priest, in God's book, neither would he be con- 
fessed, unless he were accused, by some man, of sin." Again, 
being examined whether he believed the body of Christ to be in 
the sacrament of the altar really under the forms of bread and 
wine after the consecration ? he answered, that " he believed no 
reality of Christ's body to be in the sacrament ; neither found 
he written, that he is there under form or trestle, but he believed 
so much as was written." Being then asked whether he be- 
lieved that there was a Catholic church or no, and whether he 
would be content to be a member of the same, he answered, 



164 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

that " he believed so much as was written in God's book," and 
other answer than this he refused to give. Whereupon sentence 
was read against him on the 18th of January, and so he was 
committed to the secular power, and, afterwards, suffered for 
the true faith, with the four women following. 

Agnes Snoth was a widow, of the parish of Smarden, and 
was likewise cited and accused for her faith. She was divers 
times examined, and being compelled to answer to such articles 
and interrogatories as should be administered unto her, she first 
denied to be confessed to a priest. And as touching the sacra- 
ment of the altar, she protested that if she or any other did 
receive the sacrament so as Christ and his apostles after him 
did deliver it, then she and they did receive it to their comfort ; 
but as it is now used in the church, she said that no man could 
otherwise receive it than to his damnation, as she thought. Af- 
terwards, being examined again concerning penance, whether it 
were a sacrament or not, she plainly denied it. Whereupon the 
sentence being likewise read, she was committed to the sheriffs 
of Canterbury, and suffered with her faithful companions. 

Anne Albright. — This female, strong in her belief, on ap- 
pearing before the judge and his colleagues, told them, that 
" she would not be confessed by a priest." And speaking to 
the judge and his assistants, she told them that they were sub- 
verted of Christ's truth. 

And concerning the sacrament of the altar, she said " it was 
a wicked and abominable idol." Thus persevering in her for- 
mer sayings and answers, she was condemned on the 18th of 
January, and suffered with the others before mentioned. 

Joan Sole was of the parish of Horton, and was accused by 
the priests of denying auricular confession, and the real presence 
and substance of Christ to be in the sacrament. She was ac- 
cordingly condemned and brought to the stake. 

Joan Catmer, the fifth and last of this little company of mar- 
tyrs, was of the parish of Hith, wife of George Catmer, who 
had suffered before. She, also refusing to be confessed by a 
priest, and denying the bodily presence in the sacrament, was, 
in consequence, condemned and burnt. 

These five steadfast servants of God, and willing followers of 
Christ, were bound together at two stakes, rejoicing in the 
flames, and chanting hallelujahs to God and the Lamb, who had 
given them the victory over all their enemies, and a good hope, 
through grace, that when this earthly tabernacle was dissolved, 
they should have a house, not made with hands, but eternal in 
the heavens. 



ARCHBISHOP CRANMER. 165 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Life, Sufferings and Martyrdom of Thomas Cranmer, Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, who was burnt at Oxford, March 21, 
1556. 

This eminent prelate was born at Aslacton, in Nottingham- 
shire, on the 2d of July, 1489. His family was ancient, and 
came in with William the Conqueror. He was early deprived 
of his father, and, after a common school education, was sent by 
his mother to Cambridge, at the age of fourteen, according to 
the custom of those times. 

Having completed his studies at the university, he took the 
usual degrees, and was so well beloved that he was chosen fel- 
low of Jesus college, and became celebrated for his great learn- 
ing and abilities. 

In 1521 he married, by which he forfeited his fellowship; but 
his wife dying in childbed, within a year after his marriage, he 
was re-elected. This favor he gratefully acknowledged, and 
chose to decline an offer of a much more valuable fellowship in 
cardinal Wolsey's new seminary at Oxford, rather than relin- 
quish friends who had treated him with the most distinguished 
respect. 

In 1523 he commenced doctor of divinity; and being in great 
esteem for theological learning, he was chosen divinity lecturer 
in his own college, and appointed, by the university, one of the 
examiners in that science. In this office he principally incul- 
cated the study of the holy scriptures, then greatly neglected, 
as being indispensably necessary for the professors of that divine 
knowledge. 

The plague happening to break out at Cambridge, Mr. Cran- 
mer, with some of his pupils, removed to Waltham-abbey, where, 
meeting with Gardiner and Fox, one the secretary, the other 
almoner, of king Henry VIII., that monarch's intended divorce 
of Catharine his queen, the common subject of discourse in 
those days, was mentioned ; when Cranmer advising an appli- 
cation to our own and to the foreign universities, for their opin- 
ion in the case, and giving these gentlemen much satisfaction, 
they introduced him to the king, who was so pleased with him, 
that he ordered him to write his thoughts on the subject, made 
him his chaplain, and admitted him into that favor and esteem 
which he never afterwards forfeited. 



166 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

In 1530 he was sent by the king, with a solemn embassy, to 
dispute on the subject of the divorce, at Paris, Eome, and other 
foreign parts. At Eome he delivered his book which he had 
written in defence of the divorce to the pope, and offered to jus- 
tify it in a public disputation : but, after various promises and 
appointments, none appeared to oppose him ; while in private 
conferences he forced them to confess that the marriage was 
contrary to the law of God. The pope constituted him peniten- 
tiary-general of England, and dismissed him. In Germany he 
gave full satisfaction to many learned men, who were before of 
a contrary persuasion ; and prevailed on the famous Osander 
(whose niece he married while there) to declare the king's mar- 
riage unlawful. 

During the time he was abroad, the great archbishop Warham 
died : Henry, convinced of Cranmer's merit, determined that he 
should succeed him : and commanded him to return for that 
purpose. He suspected the cause, and delayed : he was desi- 
rous, by all means, to decline this high station ; for he had a 
true and primitive sense of the office. But a spirit so different 
from that of the churchmen of his times stimulated the king's 
resolution ; and the more reluctance Cranmer showed, the 
greater resolution Henry exerted. He was consecrated on 
March 30, 1533, to the office ; and though he received the 
usual bulls from the pope, he protested, at his consecration, 
against the oath of allegiance, &c. to him. For he had con- 
versed freely with the reformed in Germany, had read Luther's 
books, and was zealously attached to the glorious cause of 
reformation. 

The first service he did the king in his archiepiscopal charac- 
ter, was, pronouncing the sentence of his divorce from queen 
Catharine : and the next was joining his hand with Anne Bo- 
leyn, the consequence of which marriage was the birth of the 
glorious Elizabeth, to whom he stood godfather. 

As the queen was greatly interested in the reformation, the 
friends to that good work began to conceive high hopes; 
and, indeed, it went on with desirable success. But the fickle 
disposition of the king, and the fatal end of the unhappy Anne, 
for a while, alarmed their fears ; though, by God's providence, 
without any ill effects. The pope's supremacy was universally 
exploded ; monasteries, &c. destroyed, upon the fullest detection 
of the most abominable vices and wickedness existing in them : 
that valuable book of the " Erudition of a Christian Man " was 
set forth by our great archbishop, with public authority : and the 
sacred scriptures, at length, to the infinite joy of Cranmer, arid 



ARCHBISHOP CRANMER. 167 

of lord Cromwell, his constant friend and associate, were not 
only translated, but introduced into every parish. 

The enemies of the reformation, however, were restless '. and 
Henry, alas ! was no Protestant in his heart. Cromwell fell a 
sacrifice to them; and they aimed their malignant shafts at 
Cranmer. Gardiner, in particular, was indefatigable : he caused 
him to be accused in parliament, and several lords of the privy 
council moved the king to commit the archbishop to the Tower. 
The king perceived their malice ; and one evening, on pretence 
o^diverting himself on the w r ater, ordered his barge to be rowed 
to Lambeth. The archbishop, being informed of it, came down 
to pay his respects, and was ordered by the king to come into 
the barge, and sit close by him. Henry made him acquaint- 

j ed with the accusations of heresy, faction, &c. which were laid 
against him ; and spoke of his opposition to the six articles : 

, the archbishop modestly replied, that he could not but acknow- 
ledge himself to be of the same opinion, with respect to them, 

: but was not conscious of having offended against them. The 
king then, putting on an air of pleasantry, asked him, If his 
bed-chamber could stand the test of these articles ? The arch- 
bishop confessed that he was married in Germany, before his 
promotion ; but he assured the king, that on the passing of that 

1 act, he had parted with his wife, and sent her abroad to her 
friends. His majesty was so charmed with his openness and 

I integrity, that he discovered the whole plot that was laid against 
him ; and gave him a ring of great value to produce upon any 

; future emergency. 

A few days after this, Cranmer's enemies summoned him to 

I appear before the council. He accordingly attended, when they 

! suffered him to wait in the lobby, amongst the servants, treated 
him on his admission with haughty contempt, and would have 

j sent him to the Tower. But he produced the ring, which 

! changed their tone ; and, while his enemies received a severe 
reprimand from Henry, Cranmer himself gained the highest 
degree of security and favor. 

In 1-547, Henry died, and left his crown to his only son, Ed- 

i ward, Avho was godson to Cranmer, and had imbibed all the 
spirit of a reformer. This excellent young prince, influenced 

j no less by his own inclinations than by the advice of Cranmer 
and the other friends of reformation, w r as diligent in every en- 
deavor to" promote it. Homilies, and a catechism, were com- 

i posed by the archbishop ; Erasmus's notes on the New Testa- 

I ment were translated, and fixed in churches ; the sacrament was 
administered in both kinds ; and the liturgy was read in the 



168 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

vulgar tongue. Ridley, the archbishop's great friend, and one 
of the brightest lights of the English reformation, was equally 
zealous in the good cause : and in concert with him the arch- 
bishop drew up the forty-two articles of religion, which were 
revised by other bishops and divines ; as, through him, he had 
perfectly conquered all his scruples respecting the doctrine of 
the corporeal presence, and published a much esteemed treatise, 
entitled, " A Defence of the True and Catholic Doctrine of the 
Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ." 

But this happy scene of prosperity was not to continue : God 
was pleased to deprive the nation of king Edward, in 1553, de- 
signing, in his wise providence, to perfect the new-born church 
of his son Jesus Christ in England, by the blood of martyrs, as 
at the beginning he perfected the church in general. 

Anxious for the success of the reformation, and wrought upon 
by the artifices of the duke of Northumberland, Edward had 
been persuaded to exclude his sisters, and to bequeath the crown 
to that duke's amiable and every way deserving daughter-in- 
law, the lady Jane Grey. The archbishop did his utmost to 
oppose this alteration in the succession ; but the king was over- 
ruled ; the will was made, and subscribed by the council and 
judges. The archbishop was sent for, last of all, and required 
10 subscribe ; but he answered that he could not do so without 
perjury, having sworn to the entail of the crown on the two 
princesses Mary and Elizabeth. To this the king replied, " that 
the judges, who, being best skilled in the constitution, ought to 
be regarded in this point, had assured him, that notwithstanding 
that entail, he might lawfully bequeath the crown to lady Jane." 
The archbishop desired to discourse with them himself about 
it ; and they all agreeing that he might lawfully subscribe the 
king's will, he was at last prevailed with to resign his own pri- 
vate scruples to their authority, and set his hand to it. 

Having done this, he thought himself obliged in conscience 
to join the lady Jane : but her short-lived power soon expired ; 
when Mary and persecution mounted the throne, and Cranmer 
could expect nothing less than what ensued ; attainder, impris- 
onment, deprivation, and death. 

He was condemned for treason, and, with pretended clemen- 
cy, pardoned ; but, to gratify Gardiner's malice, and her own 
implacable resentment against him for her mother's divorce, 
Mary gave orders to proceed against him for heresy. His 
friends, who foresaw the storm, had advised him to consult his 
safety by retiring beyond sea; but he chose rather to continue 
steady to the cause which he had hitherto so nobly supported; 



ARCHBISHOP CRANMER. 

and preferred the probability of sealing his testimony with his 
blood, to an ignominious and dishonorable flight. 

In April, 1554, the archbishop, with bishops Ridley and Lati- 
mer, was removed from the Tower to Windsor, and from thence 
to Oxford, to dispute with some select persons of both universi- 
ties. But how vain are disputations, where the fate of men is 
fixed, and every word is misconstrued ! And such was the case 
here : for on April the 20th, Cranmer was brought to St. Mary's, 
before the queen's commissioners, and refusing to subscribe to 
the popish articles, he was pronounced a heretic, and sentence 
of condemnation was passed upon him. Upon which he told 
them, that he appealed from their unjust sentence to that of the 
Almighty ; and that he trusted to be received into his presence 
in heaven for maintaining the truth, as set forth in his most 

. holy gospel. 

After this his servants were dismissed from their attendance, 
and himself closely confined in Bocardo, the prison of the city 
of Oxford. But this sentence being void in law, as the pope's 
authority was wanting, a new commission was sent from Rome 
in 1555 : and in St. Mary's church, at the high altar, the court 
sat, and tried the already condemned Cranmer. He was here 

I well nigh too strong for his judges ; and if reason and truth 
could have prevailed, there would have been no doubt who 
should have been acquitted, and who condemned. 

The February following, a new commission was given to 
bishop Bonner and bishop Thirlby, for the degradation of the 
archbishop. When they came down to Oxford, he was brought 
before them ; and after they had read their commission from the 
pope, (for not appearing before whom in person, as they had cited 

Ji him, he was declared contumacious, though they themselves had 
kept him a close prisoner,) Bonner, in a scurrilous oration, in- 
sulted over him in the most unchristian manner, for which he 
was often rebuked by bishop Thirlby, who wept, and declared it 
the most sorrowful scene he had ever beheld in his whole life. 
In the commission it was declared, that the cause had been im- 

;] partially heard at Rome ; the witnesses on both sides examined, 
and the archbishop's counsel allowed to make the best defence 
for him they could. 

At the reading of this, the archbishop could not help crying 
out, " Good God ! what lies are these ! that I, being continually 
in prison, and not suffered to have counsel or advocate at home, 
should produce witnesses and appoint my counsel at Rome ! 
God must needs punish this shameless and open lying !" 

When Bonner had finished his invective, they proceeded to 
15 



l¥0 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

degrade him; and that they might make him as ridiculous as 
they could, the episcopal habit which they put on him was 
made of canvas and old rags ; Bonner, in the mean time, by 
way of triumph and mockery, calling him " Mr. Canterbury," 
and the like. 

He bore all this treatment with his wonted fortitude and pa- 
tience ; told them " the degradation gave him no concern, for 
he had long despised those ornaments :" but when they came 
to take away his crosier, he held it fast, and delivered his appeal 
to Thirlby, saying, " I appeal to the next general council." 

When they had stripped him of all his habits, they put on 
him a poor yeoman-beadle's gown, threadbare and ill-shaped, 
and a townsman's cap ; and in this manner delivered him to the 
secular power to be carried back to prison, where he was kept 
entirely destitute of money, and totally secluded from his friends. 
Nay, such was the fury of his enemies, that a gentleman was 
taken into custody by Bonner, and narrowly escaped a trial, for 
giving the poor archbishop money to buy him a dinner. 

Cranmer had now been imprisoned almost three years, and 
death should have soon followed his sentence and degradation ; 
but his cruel enemies reserved him for greater misery and in- 
sult. Every engine that could be thought of was employed to 
shake his constancy; but he held fast to the profession of his 
faith. Nay, even when he saw the barbarous martyrdom of 
his dear companions, Ridley and Latimer, he was so far from 
shrinking, that he not only prayed to God to strengthen them, 
but also, by their example, to animate him to a patient expecta- 
tion and endurance of the same fiery trial. 

The papists, after trying various severe ways to bring Cran- 
mer over without effect, at length determined to try what gentle 
methods would do. They accordingly removed him from prison 
to the lodgings of the dean of Christ-church, where they urged 
every persuasive and affecting argument to make him deviate 
from his faith ; and, indeed, too much melted his gentle nature, 
by the false sunshine of pretended civility and respect. 

The unfortunate prelate, however, withstood every tempta- 
tion ; at which his enemies were so irritated, that they removed 
him from the dean's lodgings to the most lothsome part of the 
prison in which he had been confined, and there treated him 
with unparalleled severity. This was more than the infirmities 
of so old a man could support; the frailty of human nature pre- 
vailed, and he was induced to sign the following recantation, 
drawn from him by the malice and artifices of his enemies. 

" I, Thomas Cranmer, late archbishop of Canterbury, do re* 



ARCHBISHOP CRANMER. 171 

nounce, abhor, and detest, all manner of heresies and errors of 
Luther and Zuinglius, and all other teachings which are con- 
trary to sound and true doctrine. And I believe most constantly 
in my heart, and with my mouth I confess, one holy and Catho- 
lic church visible, without which there is no salvation; and 
thereof I acknowledge the bishop of Rome to be supreme head 
on earth, whom I acknowledge to be the highest bishop and 
pope, and Christ's vicar, unto whom all Christian people ought 
to be subject. 

" And as concerning the sacraments, I believe and worship 
in the sacrament of the altar, the very body and blood of Christ, 
being contained most truly under the forms of bread and wine ; 
the bread, through the mighty power of God, being turned into 
the body of our Savior Jesus Christ, and the wine into his blood. 

" And in the other six sacraments, also, (like as in this,) I be- 
lieve and hold as the universal church holdeth, and the church 
of Rome judge th and determineth. 

" Furthermore, I believe that there is a place of purgatory, 
where souls departed be punished for a time, for whom the 
church doth godlily and wholesomely pray, like as it doth honor 
saints and make prayers to them. 

" Finally, in all things I profess, that I do not otherwise be- 
lieve, than the Catholic church and church of Rome holdeth and 
teacheth. I am sorry that ever I held or thought otherwise. 
And I beseech almighty God, that of his mercy he will vouch- 
safe to forgive me whatsoever I have offended against God or 
his church, and also I desire and beseech all Christian psople 
to pray for me. 

" And all such as have been deceived either by mine example 
or doctrine, I require them, by the blood of Jesus Christ, that 
they will return to the unity of the church, that we may be all 
of one mind, without schism or division. 

" And to conclude, as I submit myself to the Catholic church 
of Christ, and to the supreme head thereof, so I submit myself 
unto the most excellent majesties of Philip and Mary, king and 
queen of this realm of England, &c. and to all other their laws 
and ordinances, being ready always as a faithful subject ever to 
obey them. And God is my witness, that I have not done this 
for favor or fear of any person, but willingly and of mine own 
conscience, as to the instruction of others." 

This recantation of the archbishop was immediately printed, 
and distributed throughout the country ; and, to establish its 
authenticity, first was added the name of Thomas Cranmer, 
with a solemn subscription, then followed the witness of his 



172 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

recantation, Henry Sydal, and friar John de Villa Garcina. All 
this time Cranmer had no certain assurance of his life, although 
it was faithfully promised to him by the doctors : but after 
they had gained their purpose, the rest they committed to 
chance, as is usual with men of their religion. The queen, 
having now found a time to revenge her old grudge against 
him, received his recantation very gladly; but would not alter 
her intention of putting him to death. 

The quaint simplicity with which the following account of 
the concluding scene of this good man's life is given, renders it 
more valuable and interesting than any narrative of the same 
transactions in " modern phrase ;" we therefore give it verbatim. 

Now was Dr. Cranmer in a miserable case, having neither 
inwardly any quietness in his own conscience, nor yet outward- 
ly any help in his adversaries. 

Besides this, on the one side was praise, on the other side 
scorn, on both sides danger, so that he could neither die honest- 
ly, nor yet honestly live. And whereas he sought profit, he fell 
into double disprofit, that neither with good men he could avoid 
secret shame, nor yet with evil men the note of dissimulation. 

In the mean time, while these things were doing in the prison 
amongst the doctors, the queen taking secret counsel how to 
despatch Cranmer out of the way, (who as yet knew not of her 
secret hate, and was not expecting death,) appointed Dr. Cole, 
and secretly gave him in commandment that against the 21st 
of March he should prepare a funeral sermon for Cranmer 's 
burning, and so instructing him orderly and diligently of her 
will and pleasure in that behalf, sent him away. 

Soon after, the lord Williams, of Tame, and the lord Shan- 
dois, Sir Thomas Bridges, and Sir John Brown, were sent for, 
with other worshipful men and justices, commanded in the 
queen's name to be at Oxford on the same day, with their ser- 
vants and retinue, lest Cranmer's death should raise there any 
tumult. 

Dr. Cole having this lesson given him before, and charged by 
her commandment, returned to Oxford, ready to play his part ; 
who, as the day of execution drew near, even the day before, 
came into the prison to Dr. Cranmer, to try whether he abode 
in the Catholic faith, wherein before he had left him. To 
whom, when Cranmer had answered that by God's grace he 
would be daily more confirmed in the Catholic faith ; Cole de- 
parting for that time, the next day following repaired to the 
archbishop again, giving no signification as yet of his death that 
was prepared. And therefore, in the morning, which was the 



ARCHBISHOP CRANMER. . 173 

21st day of March, appointed for Cranmer's execution, the said 
Cole coming to him, asked him if he had any money, to whom 
when he had answered that he had none, he delivered fifteen 
crowns to give to the poor, to whom he would : and so ex- 
horting him as much as he could to constancy in the faith, 
departed thence about his business, as to his sermon appertained. 

By this partly, and other like arguments, the archbishop be- 
gan more and more to surmise what they were about. Then 
because the day was not far spent, and the lords and knights 
that were looked for were not yet come, there came to him the 
Spanish friar, witness of his recantation, bringing a paper with 
articles, which Cranmer should openly profess in his recantation 
before the people, earnestly desiring him that he would write 
the said instrument with the articles with his own hand, and 
sign it with his name : which when he had done, the said friar 
desired that he would write another copy thereof, which should 
remain with him, and that he did also. But yet the archbishop, 
being not ignorant whereunto their secret devices tended, and 
thinking that the time was at hand in which he could no longer 
dissemble the profession of his faith with Christ's people, he put 
his prayer and his exhortation written in another paper secretly 
into his bosom, which he intended to recite to the people before 
he should make the last profession of his faith, fearing lest, j[ 
they heard the confession of his faith first, they would not after- 
wards have suffered him to exhort the people. 

Soon after, about nine o'clock, the lord Williams, Sir Thomas 
Bridges, Sir John Brown, and the other justices, with certain 
other noblemen, that were sent of the queen's council, came 
to Oxford, with a great train of waiting men. Also of the other 
multitude on every side (as is wont in such a matter) was made 
a great concourse, and greater expectation : for first of all, they 
that were of the pope's side were in great hope that day to hear 
something of Cranmer that should establish the vanity of their 
opinion : the other part, who were endued with a better mind, 
could not yet doubt that he, who by continued study and labor 
for so many years, had set forth the doctrine of the gospel, either 
would or could now, in the last act of his life, forsake his part. 
Briefly, as every man's will inclined, either to this part or to 
that, so according to the diversity of their desires, every man 
wished and hoped for. And yet because in an uncertain thing 
the certainty could be known of none what would be the end ; 
all their minds were hanging between hope and doubt. So that 
the greater the expectation was in so doubtful a matter, the 
15* 



174 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

more was the multitude that was gathered thither to hear and 
behold. 

During this great expectation, Dr. Cranmer at length came 
from the prison of Bocardo unto St. Mary's church, (because it 
was a foul and rainy day,) the chief church in the university, in 
this order. The mayor went before, next him the aldermen in 
their place and degree ; after them was Cranmer brought be- 
tween two friars, which mumbling to and fro certain psalms in 
the streets, answered one another until they came to the church 
door, and there they began the song of Simeon, " Nunc dimit- 
tis;" and entering into the church, the psalm-singing friars 
brought him to his standing, and there left him. There was a 
stage set over-against the pulpit, of a mean height from the 
ground, where Cranmer had his standing, waiting until Dr. 
Cole made ready for his sermon. 

The lamentable case and sight of that man was a sorrowful 
spectacle to all Christian eyes that beheld him. He that lately 
was archbishop, metropolitan, and primate of all England, and 
the king's privy counsellor, being now in a bare and ragged 
gown, and ill-favoredly clothed, with an old square cap, exposed 
to the contempt of all men, did admonish men not only of his 
own calamity, but also of their state and fortune. For who 
would not pity his case, and might not fear his own chance, to 
see such a prelate, so grave a counsellor, and of so long-continued 
honor, after so many dignities, in his old years to be deprived 
of his estate, adjudged to die, and in so painful a death to end 
his life, and now presently from such fresh ornaments, to de- 
scend to such vile and ragged apparel ? 

In this habit, when he had stood a good space upon the stage, 
turning to a pillar near adjoining thereunto, he lifted up his 
hands to heaven, and prayed unto God once or twice, till at 
length Dr. Cole coming into the pulpit, and beginning his ser- 
mon, entered first into mention of Tobias and Zachary, whom 
after he had praised in the beginning of his sermon for their 
perseverance in the true worshiping of God, he then divided his 
whole sermon into three parts, (according to the solemn custom 
of the schools,) intending to speak first of the mercy of God : 
secondly, of his justice to be showed: and last of all, how the 
prince's secrets are not to be opened. And proceeding a little 
from the beginning, he took occasion by and by to turn his tale to 
Cranmer, and with many hot words reproved him, that he being 
one endued with the favor and feeling of wholesome and Catholic 
doctrine, fell into a contrary opinion of pernicious error ; which 
he had not only defended by his writings, and all his power, but 



ARCHBISHOP CRANMER, 175 

also allured other men to do the like, with great liberality of 
gifts, as it were appointing rewards for error; and after he had 
allured them, by all means did cherish them. 

It were too long to repeat all things, that in long order were 
pronounced. The sum of his tripartite declamation was, that 
he said God's mercy was so tempered with his justice, that he 
did not altogether require punishment according to the merits 
of offenders, nor yet sometimes suffered the same to go alto- 
gether unpunished, yea, though they had repented* As in 
David, who when he was bidden to choose of three kinds of 
punishment which he would, and he had chosen pestilence 
for three days, the Lord fergave him half the time, but did 
not release all ; and that the same thing came to pass in him 
also, to whom although pardon and reconciliation were due 
according to the canons, seeing he repented of his errors, yet 
there were causes why the queen and the council at this time 
iudged him to death ; of which, lest he should marvel too much, 
he should hear some. 

First, That being a traitor, he had dissolved the lawful matri- 
mony between the king and queen, her father and mother : 
besides the driving out of the pope's authority, while he was a 
metropolitan. 

Secondly, That he had been a heretic, from whom, as from 
an author and only fountain, all heretical doctrine and schisma- 
tical opinion, that so many years have prevailed in England, did 
first rise and spring ; of which he had not been a secret favorer 
only, but also a most earnest defender, even to the end of his 
life, sowing them abroad by writings and arguments, privately 
and openly, not without great ruin and decay to the Catholic 
church. 

And further, it seemed meet, according to the law of equality, 
that as the death of the late duke of Northumberland made even 
with Thomas More, chancellor, that died for the church ; so 
there should be one that should make even with Fisher, of Ro- 
chester: and because that Ridley, Hooper, and Farrar, were not 
able to make even with that man, it seemed that Cranrner should 
be joined to them to fill up their part of the equality. ^ 

The latter part of his sermon he converted to the archbishop, 
whom he comforted and encouraged to take his death well, by 
many places of scripture, as with these, and such like ; bid- 
ding him not to mistrust, but he should incontinently receive 

* This arithmetical reason for burning a man is certainly the very acme 
of Romish logic. If all accounts were to be thus settled, what would be 
the balance due from popery ? 



176 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS 

what the thief did, to whom Christ said, " This day thou shalt 
be with me in paradise :" and out of St. Paul he armed him 
against the terror of fire by this, " The Lord is faithful, which 
will not suffer you to be tempted above your strength :" by the 
example of the three children, to whom God made the flame to 
seem like a pleasant dew; adding also the rejoicing of St. An- 
drew on his cross, the patience of St. Lawrence in the fire, 
assuring him, that God, if he called on him, either would abate 
the fury of the flame, or give him strength to abide it. 

He glorified God much in his (Cranmer's) conversion, because 
it appeared to be only His (the Almighty's) work, declaring what 
travail and conference had been with him to convert him, and 
all prevailed not, till that it pleased God of his mercy to reclaim 
him, and call him home. In discoursing of which place, he 
much commended Cranmer, and qualified his former doings, 
thus tempering his judgment and talk of him, that all the time 
(said he) he flowed in riches and honor, he was unworthy of 
his life ; and now that he might not live, he was unworthy of 
death. But lest he should carry with him no comfort, he would 
diligently labor, (he said,) and also did promise, in the name of 
all the priests that were present, that immediately after his death 
there should be dirges, masses, and funerals, executed for him 
in all the churches of Oxford, for the succor of his soul. 

After Cole had ended his sermon, he called back the people 
to prayers that were ready to depart. " Brethren," said he, 
" lest any man should doubt of this man's earnest conversion 
and repentance, you shall hear him speak before you ; and 
therefore I pray you, Mr. Cranmer, to perform that now, which 
you promised not long ago ; namely, that you would openly 
express the true and undoubted profession of your faith, that 
you may take away all suspicion from men, and that all men 
may understand that you are a Catholic indeed." — " I will do 
it," said the archbishop, "and that with a good will;" who, 
rising up, and putting off his cap, began to speak thus unto the 
people : 

" Good Christian people, my dearly beloved brethren and sis- 
ters in Christ, I beseech you most heartily to pray for me to 
almighty God, that he will forgive me all my sins and offences, 
which be many without number, and great above measure. 
But yet one thing grieveth my conscience more than all the 
rest, whereof, God willing, I intend to speak more hereafter. 
But how great and many soever my sins be, I beseech you to 
pray to God of his mercy to pardon and forgive them all." And 
here kneeling down, he said the following prayer : 



AttCHBiSKOF CRANMER. 177 

m Father of heaven, Son of God, Redeemer of the world, 
O Holy Ghost, three persons and one God, have mercy upon 
me, most wretched caitiff and miserable sinner. I have offended 
both against heaven and earth, more than my tongue can ex- 
press. Whither then may I go, or whither shall I flee ? To 
heaven I may be ashamed to lift up mine eyes, and in earth I 
find no place Gf refuge or succor. To thee, therefore, O Lord, 
do I run ; to thee do I humble myself, saying, O Lord my God, 
my sins be great, but yet have mercy upon me, for thy great 
mercy. The great mystery that God became man, was not 
wrought for little or few offences. Thou didst not give thy Son 
(0 heavenly Father) unto death for small sins only, but for all 
the greatest sins of the world, so that the sinner return to thee 
with his whole heart, as I do at this present Wherefore have 
mercy on me, God, whose property is always to have mercy ; 
have mercy upon me, O Lord, for thy great mercy. I crave 
nothing for mine own merits, but for thy name's sake, that it 
may be hallowed thereb}^, and for thy Son Jesus Christ's sake. 
And now, therefore, O Father of heaven, hallowed be thy 
name," &c. And then he, rising, said : 

" Every man (good people) desireth at the time of his death 
to give some good exhortation, that others may remember the 
same before their death, and be the better thereby : so I beseech 
God grant me grace, that I may speak something at this my 
departing, whereby God may be glorified, and you edified. 

" First, it is a heavy cause to see that so many folk so much 
dote upon the love of this false world, and be so careful for it, 
that of the love to God, or the world to come, they seem to care 
very little or nothing. Therefore, this shall be my first exhorta- 
tion : That you set not your minds overmuch upon this deceit- 
ful world, but upon God, and upon the world to come, and to 
learn to know what this lesson meaneth which St. John teach- 
eth, ' That the love of this world is hatred against God.' 

" The second exhortation is, That next under God you obey 
your king and queen willingly and gladly, without murmuring 
or grudging ; not for fear of them only, but much more for the 
fear of God ; knowing that they be God's ministers, appointed 
by God to rule and govern you : and therefore whosoever re- 
sisteth them, resisteth the ordinance of God. 

14 The third exhortation is, That you love altogether like 
brethren and sisters. For, alas ! pity it is to see what conten- 
tion and hatred one Christian man beareth to another, not taking 
each other as brother and sister, but rather as strangers and 
tttort&l enemies. But I pray you learn and hear well away this 



178 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

one lesson, To do good unto all men, as much as in you lieth, 
and to hurt no man, no more than you would hurt your own 
natural loving brother or sister. For this you may be sure of, 
that whosoever hateth any person, arid goeth about maliciously 
to hinder or hurt him, surely and without all doubt, God is not 
with that man, although he think himself ever so much in 
God's favor. 

" The fourth exhortation shall be to them that have great 
substance and riches of this world ; That they will well consider 
and weigh three sayings of the scripture : one is of our Savior 
himself, who saith, Luke xviii. ' It is hard for a rich man to 
enter into the kingdom of heaven.' A sore saying, and yet 
spoken by him who knoweth the truth. 

" The second is of John, 1 John iii. whose saying is this, 
* He that hath the substance of this world, and seeth his brother 
in necessity, and shutteth up his mercy from him, how can he 
say that he loveth God V 

" The third is of St. James, who speaketh to the covetous rich 
man after this manner, " Weep you and howl for the misery that 
shall come upon you : your riches do rot, your clothes be moth- 
eaten, your gold and silver doth canker and rust, and their rust 
shall bear witness against you, and consume you like fire : you 
gather a hoard or treasure of God's indignation against the last 
day.' Let them that be rich ponder well these three sentences: 
for if they ever had occasion to show their charity, they have it 
now at this present, the poor people being so many, and victuals 
so dear. 

" And now forasmuch as I am come to the last end of my 
life, whereupon hangeth all my life past, and all my life to 
come, either to live with my master Christ forever in joy, or 
else to be in pain forever with wicked devils in hell, and I 
see before mine eyes presently either heaven ready to receive 
me, or else hell ready to swallow me up : I shall therefore de- 
clare unto you my very faith how I believe without any color 
of dissimulation : for now is no time to dissemble, whatsoever I 
have said or written in times past. 

" First, I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of hea- 
ven and earth, &c. And I believe every article of the Catholic 
faith, every word and sentence taught by our Savior Jesus 
Christ, his apostles and prophets, in the New and Old Testa- 
ment. 

" And now I come to the great thing which so much troubleth 
my conscience, more than any thing that ever I did or said in 
my whole life, and that is the setting abroad of a writing con- 



ARCHBISHOP CRANMER. 179 

trary to the truth ; which now here I renounce and refuse, as 
things written with my hand contrary to the truth which I 
thought in my heart, and written for fear of death, and to save 
my life, if it might be ; and that is, all such bills and papers 
which I have written or signed with my hand since my degra- 
dation, wherein I have written many things untrue. And foras- 
much as my hand hath offended, writing contrary to my heart, 
therefore my hand shall first be punished ; for when I come to 
the fire, it shall be first burned. 

11 And as for the pope, I refuse him, as Christ's enemy and 
Antichrist, with all his false doctrine. 

" And as for the sacrament, I believe as I have taught in my 
book against the bishop of Winchester, which my book teacheth 
so true a doctrine of the sacrament, that it shall stand at the last 
day before the judgment of God, where the papistical doctrine 
contrary thereto shall be ashamed to show her face." 

Here the standers-by were all astonished, marvelled, and 
amazed, and looked upon one another, whose expectation he 
had so notably deceived. Some began to admonish him of his 
recantation, and to accuse him of falsehood. 

Briefly, it was strange to see the doctors beguiled of so great 
a hope. I think there was never cruelty more notably or better 
in time deluded and deceived. For it is not to be doubted, but 
they looked for a glorious victory, and a perpetual triumph by 
this man's retractation. 

As soon as they heard these things, they began to let down 
their ears, to rage, fret, and fume ; and so much the more, be- 
cause they could not revenge their grief: for they could now no 
longer threaten or hurt him. For the most miserable man in 
the world can die but once ; and whereas of necessity he must 
needs die that day, though the papists had been ever so well 
pleased ; being ever so much offended at him, yet could he not 
be twice killed by them. And so when they could do nothing 
else unto him, yet lest they should say nothing, they ceased not 
to object unto him his falsehood and dissimulation. 

Unto which accusation he answered, " Ah, my masters," 
(quoth he,) " do you not take it so ? Always since I lived hitherto, 
I have been a hater of falsehood, and a lover of simplicity, and 
never before this time have I dissembled;" and in saying this, 
all the tears that remained in his body appeared in his eyes. 
And when he began to speak more of the sacrament and of the 
papacy, some of them began to cry out, yelp, and bawl, and 
especially Cole cried out upon him, " Stop the heretic's mouth, 
and take him away." 



180 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS* 

And then Cranmer being pulled down from the stage, was led 
to the fire, accompanied with those friars, vexing, troubling, and 
threatening him most cruelly. " What madness," say they, 
" hath brought thee again into this error, by which thou wilt 
draw innumerable souls with thee into hell ?" To whom he 
answered nothing, but directed all his talk to the people, saving 
that to one troubling him in the way, he spake, and exhorted 
him to get him home to his study, and apply to his book dili- 
gently ; saying, if he did diligently call upon God, by reading 
more he should get knowledge. 

But the other Spanish barker, raging and foaming, was almost 
out of his wits, always having this in his mouth, Non fecisti, 
" Didst thou it not ?" 

But when he came to the place where the holy bishops and 
martyrs of God, bishop Latimer and bishop Eidley, were burnt 
before him for the confession of the truth, kneeling down he 
prayed to God, and not long tarrying in his prayers, putting off 
his garment to his shirt, he prepared himself for death. His 
shirt was made long, down to his feet. His feet were bare ; 
likewise his head, when both his caps were off, was so bare that 
one hair could not be seen upon it. His beard was so long and 
thick, that it covered bis face with marvellous gravity ; and his 
reverend countenance moved the hearts both of his friends and 
enemies. 

Then the Spanish friars, John and Richard, of whom mention 
was made before, began to exhort him, and play their parts with 
him afresh, but with vain and lost labor. Cranmer with stead- 
fast purpose abiding in the profession of his doctrine, gave his 
hand to certain old men, and others that stood by, bidding them 
farewell. 

And when he had thought to have done so likewise to Mr. 
Ely, the said Ely drew back his hand and refused, saying, it 
was not lawful to salute heretics, and especially such a one as 
falsely returned unto the opinions that he had foresworn. And 
if he had known before that he would have done so, he would 
never have used his company so familiarly, and chid those Ser- 
jeants and citizens, who had not refused to give him their 
hands. This Mr. Ely was a student in divinity, and lately 
made a priest, being then one of the fellows in Brazen-nose 
college. 

Then was an iron chain tied about Cranmer, and they com- 
manded the fire to be set unto him. 

And when the wood was kindled, and the fire began to burn 
near him, he stretched forth his right hand, which had signed 



AGNES POTTEN AND JOAN TRUNCHFIELD. 181 

his recantation, into the flames, and there held it so steadfast 
that all the people might see it burnt to a coal before his body 
was touched. In short, he was so patient and constant in the 
midst of these extreme tortures, that he seemed to move no more 
than the stake to which he was bound ; his eyes were lifted up 
to heaven, and often he repeated, " this unworthy right hand," 
so long as his voice would suffer him ; and as often using the 
words of the blessed martyr St. Stephen, " Lord Jesus, receive 
my spirit," till the fury of the flames putting him to silence, he 
gave up the ghost. 

Thus died Thomas Cranmer, in the sixty-seventh year of his 
age. He was a man of great candor, and a firm friend, which 
appeared signally in the misfortunes of Anne Boleyn, Cromwell, 
and the duke of Somerset. In his writings he rather excelled 
in great industry and good judgment, than in a quickness of 
apprehension, or a closeness of style. He employed his reve- 
nues on pious and charitable uses ; and in his table he was truly 
hospitable, for he entertained great numbers of his poor neigh- 
bors often at it. The gentleness and humility of his deportment 
was very remarkable. His last fall was the greatest blemish of 
his life, yet that was expiated by a sincere repentance ; and 
while we drop a tear over this melancholy instance of human 
frailty, we must acknowledge with praise the interposition of 
divine Providence in his return to the truth. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Persecutions and Martyrdoms of various Persons, after the 
Death of Archbishop Cranmer. 

The force of bigotry in the breast of the unrelenting Mary 
only terminated with her life. The destruction of those who 
could not think as she did was her principal employment, and 
her greatest pleasure. Her emissaries were continually " seek- 
ing whom they might devour:" and the martyrdoms and cru- 
elties inflicted under her orders will load her name with indeli- 
ble infamy. 

MARTYRDOMS OF AGNES POTTEN AND JOAN TRUNCHFIELD. 

These two advocates and sufferers for the pure gospel of Christ 
lived in the town of Ipswich, in Suffolk. Being apprehended 
16 



182 SUFFERINGS OF EAKLtf CHRISTIANS. 

on an information of heresy, they were brought before the bishop 
of Norwich, who examined them concerning their religion in 
general, and their faith in the corporeal presence of Christ in 
the sacrament of the altar, in particular. 

With respect to the latter article, they both delivered it as 
their opinion, that, in the sacrament of the Lord's supper, there 
was represented the memorial only of Christ's death and pas- 
sion, saying, that, according to the scriptures, he was ascended 
up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God the Father ; 
and therefore his body could not be really and substantially in 
the sacrament. 

A few days after this, they were examined by the bishop, 
when both of them still continuing steadfast in the profession of 
their faith, sentence was pronounced against them as heretics, 
and they were delivered over to the secular power. 

On the day appointed for their execution, which was in the 
month of March, 1556, they were both led to the stake, and 
burnt, in the town of Ipswich. Their constancy was admired 
by the multitude who saw them suffer; for, as they undressed, 
and prepared themselves for the fire, they earnestly exhorted the 
people to believe only in the unerring word of the only living 
and true God, and not regard the devices and inventions of 
men. 

They both openly declared that they despised the errors and 
superstitions of the church of Kome, and most patiently submit- 
ted to the acute torments of devouring flames, calling upon the 
God of their salvation, and triumphing in being deemed worthy 
to suffer for the glorious cause of Jesus Christ, their Lord and 
master. * • 

MARTYRDOMS OF JOHN MAUNDREL, WILLIAM COBERLY, AND JOHN 

SPICER. 

John Maundrel was the son of Kobort Maundrel, of Rowd, 
in the county of Wilts, farmer ; he was from his childhood 
brought up m husbandry, and when he came to man's es- 
tate, he dwelt in a village called Buckhampton, in the above 
county, where he lived in good repute. After the scripture was 
translated into English by William Tindal, this John Maundrel 
became a diligent hearer thereof, and a fervent embracer of 
God's true religion, so that he delighted in nothing so much as 
to hear and speak of God's word, never being without the New 
Testament about him, although he could not read himself, as 
was at that period too frequently the case among persons in his 
station of life. But when he came into the company of any one 




MAUNDREL, COBF.RLY, AND 6PICER. 183 

who could read, his book was always ready ; and having a very 
good memory, he could recite by heart most places of the New 
Testament ; and his life and conversation were very honest and 
charitable. In the reign of king Henry VIII., when Dr. Trigo- 
nion and Dr. Lee visited the abbeys, John Maundrel was brought 
before Dr. Trigonion, at an abbey called Edyngton, in Wiltshire; 
where he was accused that he had spoken against the holy wa- 
ter and holy bread, and such like ceremonies, and was con- 
demned to wear a white sheet, bearing a candle in his hand, 
about the market, in the town of Devizes. Nevertheless, his 
fervency did not abate, but, by God's merciful assistance, he 
cook better hold, as the sequel will declare. 

In the days of queen Mary, when popery was restored again, 
and God's true religion put to silence, Maundrel left his own 
house and went into Gloucestershire, and into the north part of 
Wiltshire, wandering from one to another to such men as he 
knew feared God, with whom, as a servant to keep their cattle, 
he remained some time ; but afterwards returned to his own 
country, and coming to Devizes, to a friend of his, named An- 
thony Clee, he mentioned his intention of returning home to his 
house. 

And when his friend exhorted him by the words of scripture 
to flee from one city to another, he replied again by the words 
of the Eevelations of them that be fearful, and said, that he 
needs must go home; and so he did; and here he, Spicer and 
Coberly, used at times to resort and confer together. 

At length, they agreed together to go to the parish church, 
where, seeing the parishioners in the procession, following and 
worshiping the idol there carried, they advised them to leave 
the same, and to return to the living God, particularly speaking 
to one Robert Barksdale, the principal man of the parish, but he 
paid no regard to their words. 

After this the vicar came into the pulpit, and being about to 
read his bead-roll, and to pray for the souls in purgatory, John 
Maundrel, speaking with an audible voice, said, that was the 
pope's pinfold, the other two affirming the same. Upon which 
words, by command of the priest, they were put in the stocks, 
where they remained till the service was done, and then were 
brought before a justice of the peace ; the next day they were 
all three carried to Salisbury, and taken before bishop Capon, 
and William Geffrey, chancellor of the diocese; by whom they 
were imprisoned, and oftentimes examined concerning their 
faith, in their houses, but seldom openly. And at the last 
.examination the usual articles being alleged against them, they 



184 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

answered, as Christian men should and ought to believe : and 
first they said, they believed in God the Father, and in the Son, 
and in the Holy Ghost, the twelve articles of the creed, the holy 
scripture from the first of Genesis to the last of the Revelation 

But that faith the chancellor would not allow. Wherefore 
he proposed them in particular articles: First, whether they 
did not believe, that in the sacrament of the altar, (as he termed 
it,) after the words of consecration spoken by the priest at mass, 
there remained no substance of bread nor wine, but Christ's 
body, flesh and blood, as he was born of the virgin Mary. To 
which they answered negatively, saying that the popish mass 
was abominable idolatry, and injurious to the blood of Christ ; 
but confessing, that in a faithful congregation, receiving the 
sacrament of Christ's body and blood, being duly administered 
according to Christ's institution, Christ's body and blood is 
spiritually received of the faithful believer. 

Those articles being thus answered, the chancellor read their 
condemnation, and so delivered them to the sheriff, who was 
present during the examination. John Spicer then said, " 0, 
master sheriff, now must you be their butcher, that you may be 
guilty also with them of innocent blood before the Lord." This 
was on the 23d day of March, 1556, and on the following day, 
they were carried out of the common jail to a place between 
Salisbury and Wilton, where were two stakes set for them to be 
burnt at. Upon coming to the place, they kneeled down, and 
made their prayers secretly together, and then being undressed 
to their shirts, John Maundrel cried out, with a loud voice, 
" Not for all Salisbury !" Which words were understood to be 
an answer to the sheriff, who offered him the queen's pardon if 
he would recant. And after that John Spicer said, " This is 
the joyfullest day that ever I saw." Thus were the three burnt 
at two stakes, where most constantly they gave their bodies to 
the fire, and their souls to the Lord, for the testimony of his 
truth. 

The wife of William Coberly, being also apprehended, was 
detained in the keeper's house at the same time that her hus- 
band was in prison. The keeper's wife, Agnes Penicote, hav- 
ing secretly heated a key red-hot, laid it in the back yard, and 
desired Alice Coberly to fetch it to her in all haste ; the poor 
woman went immediately to bring it, and taking it up in haste, 
burnt her hand terribly. Whereupon she crying out, " Ah ! 
thou drab," cried the keeper's wife, " thou that canst not abide 
the burning of the key, how wilt thou be able to abide burning 
thy whole body?" And, indeed, she was weak enough to 
recant. 



RICHARB AND THOMAS SPURG, AND OTHERS. 185 

But to return to the story of Coberly ; he being at the stake, 
was somewhat long in burning : after his body was scorched 
with the flames, and the flesh of his left arm entirely consumed 
by the violence of the fire, at length he stooped over the chain, 
and with the right hand, which was less injured, smote upon 
his breast softly, the blood gushing out of his mouth. After- 
wards, when all thought he had been dead, suddenly he rose 
upright again, but shortly after expired, following his compan- 
ions to the realms of eternal glory and felicity. 

MARTYRDOMS OF RICHARD AND THOMAS SPURG, JOHN CAVILL, AND 
GEORGE AMBROSE, LAYMEN ; AND OF ROBERT DRAKE AND WILLIAM 
TIMS, MINISTERS, 

These six pious Christians resided in the county of Essex. 
Being accused of heresy, they were all apprehended, and 
sent by the lord Rich, and other commissioners, at different 
times, to bishop Gardiner^ lord chancellor; who, after a short 
examination, sent the four first to the Marshalsea prison in the 
borough, and the two last to the King's Bench, where they con- 
tinued during a whole year, till the death of bishop Gardiner. 

When Dr. Heath, archbishop of York, succeeded to the chan- 
cellorship, four of these persecuted brethren, namely, Richard 
and Thomas Spurg, John Cavill and George Ambrose, weary 
of their tedious confinement, presented a petition to the chan- 
cellor, subscribing their names, and requesting his interest for 
their enlargement. 

A short time after the delivery of this petition, Sir Richard 
Read, one of the officers of the court of chancery, was sent by 
the chancellor to the Marshalsea, to examine them. 

Richard Spurg, the first who passed examination, being asked 
the cause of his imprisonment, replied, that he, with several 
others, being complained of by the minister of Booking, for not 
coming to their parish church, to the lord Rich, was therefore 
sent up to London by his lordship, to be examined by the late 
chancellor. 

He acknowledged that he had not been at church since the 
English service was changed into Latin, (except on Christmas- 
day was twelvemonth,) because he disliked the same, and the 
mass also, as not agreeable to God's holy word. 

He then desired that he might be no further examined con- 
cerning this matter until it pleased the present chancellor to 
inquire his faith concerning the same, which he was ready to 
testify. 

Thomas Spurg, on his examination, answered to the same 
16* 



186 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

effect with the other, confessing that he absented himself from 
church, because the word of God was not there truly taught, 
nor the sacraments of Christ duly administered, as prescribed 
by the same word. 

Being further examined touching his faith in the sacrament 
of the altar, he said, that if he stood accused in that particular, 
he would answer as God had given him knowledge, which he 
should do at another opportunity. 

John Cavill likewise agreed in the chief particulars with his 
brethren : but further said, the cause of his absenting himself 
from church was, that the minister there had advanced two doc- 
trines contrary to each other ; for first, in a sermon which he 
delivered when the queen came to the crown, he exhorted the 
people to believe the gospel, declaring it to be the truth, and 
that if they believed it not, they would be damned ; and second- 
ly, in a future discourse, he declared that the New Testament 
was false in forty places ; which contrariety gave Cavill much 
disgust, and was, among other things, the cause of his absenting 
himself from church. 

George Ambrose answered to the same effect, adding, more- 
over, that after he had read the late bishop of Winchester's book, 
entitled De vera Obedientia, with bishop Bonner's preface there- 
unto annexed, both inveighing against the authority of the bishop 
of Rome, he esteemed their principles more lightly than he had 
done before. 

Robert Drake was minister of Thundersly, in Essex, to 
which living he had been presented by lord Rich in the reign 
of Edward VI., when he was ordained priest by Dr. Ridley, 
then bishop of London, according to the reformed English ser- 
vice for ordination. 

On the accession of queen Mary to the throne cf England, he 
was sent for by Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, who demanded 
of him whether he would conform, like a good subject, to the 
laws of the realm then in force ? He answered, that he would 
abide by those laws that were agreeable to the law of God ; 
upon which he was immediately committed to prison. 

William Tims was a deacon and curate of Hockley, in Essex, 
in the reign of Edward VI. ; but being deprived of his living 
soon after the death of that monarch, he absconded, and pri- 
vately preached in a neighboring wood, whither many of his 
flock attended to hear the word of God. 

In consequence of these proceedings he was apprehended by 
one of the constables, and sent up to the bishop of London, by 
whom he was referred to Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, and 



TIMS, DRAKE, AND OTHERS. 187 

lord chancellor, who committed him to the Kind's Bench prison. 
A short time after his confinement, he (with the others before 
mentioned) was ordered to appear before the bishop of London, 
who questioned him in the usual manner, concerning his faith 
in the sacrament of the altar. 

Mr. Tims answered, that the body of Christ was not in the 
sacrament of the altar, really and corporeally, after the words 
of consecration spoken by the priest; and that he had been a 
long time of that opinion, ever since it had pleased God, of his 
infinite mercy, to call him to the true knowledge of the gospel 
of his grace. 

On the 23th of March, 1556, these six persons were all 
brought into the consistory court, in St. Paul's church, before 
the bishop of London, in order to be examined, for the last time ; 
when he assured them, that if they did not submit to the church 
of Rome, they should be condemned for heresy. 

The bishop began his examination with Tims, whom he 
called the ringleader of the others : he told them, that he had 
taught them heresies, confirmed them in their erroneous opin- 
ions, and endeavored, as far as in him lay, to render them as 
abominable as himself; with many other accusations equally 
false and opprobrious. 

Mr. Time acknowledged only two sacraments, baptism and 
the Lord's supper; commending the bishop of Winchester's 
book Da vera Obedientia, and the bishop of London's preface to 
the same. He declared that the mass was blasphemy of Christ's 
passion and death ; that Christ is not corporeally but spiritually 
present in the sacrament, and that, as they used it, it was an 
abominable idol. 

Bonner exhorted him to revoke his errors and heresies, con- 
form to the church of Rome, and not abide strenuously by the 
literal sense of the scripture, but use the interpretation of the 
fathers. 

The bishop, finding Mr. Tims so inflexible in his adherence 
to the faith he professed, that every attempt to draw him from 
it was vain and fruitless, read his definitive sentence, and he 
was delivered over to the secular power. 

Bonner then used the same measures with Drake as he had 
done with Tims ; but Drake frankly declared, that he denied the 
church of Rome, with all the works thereof, even as he denied 
the devil, and all his works. 

The bishop, perceiving all his exhortations fruitless, pro- 
nounced sentence of condemnation, and he was immediately 
delivered into the custody of the sheriffs. 



188 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

After this, Thomas and Richard Spurg, George Ambrose, and 
John Cavill, were severally asked, if they would forsake their 
heresies, and return to the Catholic church. They all refused 
consenting to the church of Rome ; but said, they were willing 
to adhere to the true Catholic church, and continue in the same. 

Bonner then read their several definitive sentences, after which 
he committed them to the custody of the sheriffs of London, by 
whom they were conducted to Newgate. 

On the 14th of April, 1556, the day appointed for their exe- 
cution, they were all led to Smithfield, where they were chained 
to the same stake, and burnt in one fire, patiently submitting 
themselves to the flames, and resigning their souls into the 
hands of that glorious Redeemer, for whose -sake they delivered 
their bodies to be burned. 

MARTYRDOMS OF JOAN BEACH, WIDOW, OF TUNBRIDGE ; AND JOHN 
HARPOLE, OF ROCHESTER. 

Information being laid against these two persons, for heresy, 
they were apprehended, and, by the magistrates of the respective 
places where they lived, committed to prison. After being some 
time in confinement, they were separately examined before Mau- 
rice, bishop of Rochester, their diocesan. 

Joan Beach was first taken before the bishop for examina- 
tion. Finding her inflexible in the faith she professed, he 
strongly urged her to preserve her life by renouncing her er- 
rors ; which she peremptorily refusing, he pronounced sentence 
on her, and she was delivered over to the secular power. 

John Harpole being next examined before the same bishop, 
articles of a similar nature were exhibited against him as against 
his fellow-sufferer, Joan Beach. His answers to all of them 
were to the same import as hers : upon which the bishop pro- 
nounced sentence of death on him in the usual form. 

These two faithful followers of Christ were burnt together, in 
one fire, in the city of Rochester, about the latter end of April. 
1556. They embraced each other at the stake, and cheerfully 
resigned their souls into the hands of their Redeemer ; after re- 
peatedly singing hallelujahs to the praise and glory of his name. 

SUFFERINGS OF CHRISTOPHER LISTER, JOHN MACE, JOHN SPENCER, SI- 
MON JOYN, RICHARD NICHOLS, AND JOHN HAMMOND : WHO WERE 
ALL BURNED TOGETHER AT COLCHESTER. 

These six persons being all apprehended on a charge of here- 
sy, anl brought before bishop Bonner, at his palace atFulham ; 
where articles were exhibited against them, of the same nature, 



HUGH LAVEROCK AND JOHN APPRICE. 189 

and in the usual form, as those against others on the like 
occasion. 

After various endeavors to bring them to recant, without the 
least effect, sentence of death was pronounced against them, and 
they were all delivered over to the secular power. 

The writ for their execution being made out, they were re- 
moved to Colchester, where, on the 28th day of April, 1556, 
they were fastened to two stakes, and burnt in one fire. They 
all cheerfully met their fate, giving glory to God in the midst 
of the flames, and encouraging others, for the truth of the gos- 
pel, to follow their example. 

MARTYRDOMS OF HUGH LAVEROCK, AN OLD DECREPIT MAN ; AND JOHN 
APPRICE, A BLIND MAN. 

The former of these martyrs was by trade a painter, and 
lived in the parish of Barking, in Essex. At the time of his 
apprehension he was in the sixty-eighth year of his age, and 
very helpless from the natural infirmities of life. Being, how- 
ever, accused of heresy by some of the popish emissaries in his 
neighborhood, he, with his fellow-sufferer, was taken before 
Bonner to be examined with respect to their faith. 

The bishop laid before them the same articles as have been 
mentioned in former instances, and they returned answers to 
the same effect as those of other advocates for the truth of 
the gospel. 

On the 9th of May, 1556, they were both brought into the 
consistory court at St. Paul's, where their articles and answers 
were publicly read ; after which the bishop endeavored to per- 
suade them to recant their opinions concerning the sacrament 
of the altar. 

Hugh Laverock declared, that by the grace of God he would 
continue in the profession he had already made, for he could 
not find the least authority in the word of God for approving 
the doctrine of the corporeal presence in the sacrament. 

The bishop then addressed himself to John Apprice, and de- 
manded what he had to say in his defence ? The honest blind 
man answered the haughty prelate, " that the doctrine he set 
forth and taught was so conformable to the world, that it could 
not be agreeable to the scripture of God ; and that he was no 
member of the Catholic church of Christ, seeing he made laws 
to kill men, and made the queen his executioner." 

The first examination being over, they were for the present 
dismissed, but ordered to appear the next day at the bishop's 
palace at Fulham. Being accordingly conducted there, the 



190 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

bishop, after some discourse with them, and finding them stead- 
fast in their faith, pronounced the definitive sentence; when, 
being delivered over to the secular power, they were committed 
to Newgate. 

On the 15th of May, they were conveyed to Stratford -le-Bow, 
the place appointed for their execution. As soon as they ar- 
rived at the stake, Laverock threw away his crutch, and thus 
addressed his fellow-sufferer: " Be of good comfort, brother, for 
my lord of London is our good physician : he will cure us both 
shortly, thee of thy blindness, and me of my lameness. " 

After this they both knelt down, and prayed with great fer- 
vency, that God would enable them to pass, with Christian 
resolution, through the fiery trial. 

These two undaunted believers in Christ were both chained 
to one stake. They endured their sufferings with great forti- 
tude, and cheerfully yielded up their lives in testimony of the 
truth of their blessed Redeemer. 

MARTYRDOMS OF CATHARINE HUT, JOAN HORNES, AND ELIZABETH 

THACKVILL. 

These three pious women, being apprehended on suspicion of 
heresy, were carried before Sir John Mordaunt and Mr. Tyrrel, 
justices of peace for the county of Essex, who sent them prison- 
ers to the bishop of London, for not conforming to the order of 
the church, and not believing the real presence of Christ's body 
in the sacrament of the altar. Being brought before the bishop, 
he exhibited to them the articles usual on the occasion. 

On the 13th of April they were again brought before the 
bishop, and the respective articles, with their answers, publicly 
read in court, in order to their final judgment. 

Catharine Hut, being first examined, was required to declare 
her opinion of the sacrament of the altar, and to return to the 
Catholic faith. To this she replied, " that the sacrament, as 
enforced by the papists, was not truly God, but a dumb god, 
made with men's hands ;" upon which she received sentence of 
death. 

Joan Hornes was next examined, and being charged that she 
did not believe the sacrament of Christ's body and blood to be 
Christ himself, said, " If you can make your god to shed blood, 
or show any sign of a true, living body, then I will believe you : 
but it is bread as to the substance ; and that which you call here- 
sy is the manner in which I trust to serve my God to the end of 
my life. Concerning the bishop and see of Rome, I detest them 
as abominations, and desire ever to be delivered from the same." 



DROWRY, SPICER, AND OTHERS. 191 

In consequence of these answers, sentence of condemnation 
was immediately pronounced on her. 

Elizabeth Thackvill continuing steadfast in her former 
confessions, and refusing to recant, shared the same fate with 
the other two ; when they were all delivered over to the secular 
power, and committed to Newgate. 

On the 16th of May, 1556, the day appointed for their exe- 
cution, they were conducted to Smithfield, where, being all 
fastened to one stake, and the fagots lighted, their bodies were 
soon consumed, after they had recommended their spirits into 
the hands of that God for the truth of whose word they joyfully 
suffered death, in hopes of obtaining life everlasting. 

MARTYRDOM OF THOMAS DROWRY, A BLIND BOY, AND THOMAS 

CROKER. 

We have just before related the sufferings of two men, the one 
blind, and the other lame ; and we have now another instance 
of natural blindness conjoined with mental illumination, leading 
the possessor to a glorious death, and a never-ending felicity in 
heaven. 

Thomas Drowry, a blind boy, at his last examination, and 
final condemnation, was brought by the officers under whose 
custody he had remained, before Dr. Williams, then chancellor 
of Gloucester, sitting judicially in the consistory of the cathedral 
of Gloucester. The chancellor having administered to the boy 
such articles as were usual in such cases, said to him, " Dost 
thou not believe, that after the words of consecration spoken by 
the priest, there remaineth the very real body of Christ, in the 
sacrament of the altar ?" 

To which Drowry answered, "No, that I do not." 

The chancellor replied, " Then thou art a heretic, and shalt 
be burned." And so he read the sentence condemnatory 
against the boy, delivering him over to the secular power, and 
on the 15th day of May, the boy was brought to the place of 
execution, at Gloucester ; together with one Thomas Croker, a 
bricklayer, condemned also for the like testimony of the truth. 
They both together, with great fortitude and resignation, joy- 
fully yielded their souls into the hands of the Lord Jesus. 

SUFFERINGS OF THOMAS SPICER, JOHN DENNY, AND EDMUND POOLE. 

These three persons were apprehended by the justices of the 
county of Suffolk, in which they lived, and committed to prison, 
for not attending mass at their parish church. 

After being some time in confinement, they were brought be- 



192 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

fore the chancellor of Norwich, and the register, who sat at the 
town of Beccles, to examine them with respect to their faith. 
The articles alleged against them were as follow : 

1. That they believed not the pope of Rome to be supreme 
head, immediately under Christ, of the universal Catholic church. 

2. That they believed not holy bread and holy water, ashes, 
palms, and other like ceremonies used in the church, to be good 
and laudable for stirring up the people to devotion. 

3. That they believed not, after the words of consecration 
spoken by the priest, the very natural body of Christ, and no 
other substance of bread and wine, to be in the sacrament of 
the altar. 

4. That they believed it to be idolatry to worship Christ in 
the sacrament of the altar. 

5. That they took bread and wine in remembrance of Christ's 
passion. 

6. That they would not follow the cross in procession, nor be 
confessed to a priest. 

They all acknowledged the truth of those accusations ; in 
consequence of which they were condemned by the chancellor, 
who first endeavored to replaim them from their opinions, and 
bring them over to the church of Rome ; but all his admonitions 
and exhortations proving ineffectual, he pronounced sentence on 
them, and they were immediately delivered into the hands of 
the high-sheriff for the county of Suffolk. 

On the 21st of May, 1556, these three pious Christians were 
led to the stake in the town of Beccles, amidst a great number 
of lamenting spectators. As soon as they arrived at the place 
of execution they devoutly prayed, and repeated the articles of 
their faith. When they came to that article concerning the holy 
Catholic church, Sir John Sillard, the high-sheriff, thus ad- 
dressed them : " That is w r ell said, sirs ; I am glad to hear you 
say you believe the Catholic church ; this is the best expression 
I ever heard from you yet." 

To this Poole answered, " that though they believed the 
Catholic church, yet they believed not in their popish church, 
which is no part of Christ's Catholic church ; and, therefore, no 
part of their belief. " 

When they arose from prayer they went joyfully to the stake, 
and being chained to it, and the fagots lighted, they praised God 
with such cheerfulness in the midst of the flames, as astonished 
the numerous spectators. Soon after they were fastened to the 
stake, several bigoted papists called to the executioner to throw 
fagots at them, in order to stop their mouths ; but our martyrs, 



HARLAND, OSWALD, ABIMGTON, AND OTHERS. 193 

disregarding their malice, boldly confessed the truth with their 
latest breath, dying, as they had lived, in certain hopes of a 
resurrection to life eternal. 

MARTYRDOMS OF THOMAS HARLAND, JOHN OSWALD, THOMAS ABING- 
TON, AND THOMAS READ ; ALSO OF THOMAS WOOD, THOMAS MILLS, 
AND OTHERS. 

The popish emissaries having laid informations against the 
first four persons, they were all apprehended on suspicion of 
heresy, and immediately sent to London, to be examined by 
Bonner, bishop of that diocese, relative to their faith. 

Thomas Harland being first examined, the bishop objected 
to his conduct in not attending his parish church : to which he 
answered, that since the mass was restored, he never chose to 
hear the same, because it was in Latin, which he did not under- 
stand, and, therefore, could not reap any benefit thereby. 

John Oswald refused to answer any objection till his accusers 
were brought face to face before him ; nevertheless, he declared 
that u he was not to be awed into any concessions by the fear 
of fire and fagot ; but as those who had faithfully administered 
the gospel of Christ, during the reign of king Edward VI., had 
suffered and gone before him, he was ready to suffer and follow 
after them, and would count it his glory and honor so to do." 

The other two, Abington and Read, said, they abjured all 
popish superstitions and errors, and that they would ever hold 
fast to the faith as it was in the pure gospel of Christ. 

The bishop, finding them all resolute, and that they were de- 
termined to adhere to their religious opinions, after endeavoring 
to prevail on theth to recant, passed sentence of condemnation 
on them, and they were immediately delivered over to the 
secular power. 

After a long confinement in the King's Bench prison, they 
were all sent down to Lewes, in Sussex, where, on the 6th of 
June, 1556, they were burned together in one fire, praising 
God for enabling them to withstand the malice of their enemies, 
and to bear, with fortitude, the punishment allotted them for 
professing the truth of his most holy word. 

On the 20th of the same month, two other persons suffered at 
the same place, namely, the Rev. Thomas Wood, and Thomas 
Mills ; who both died with Christian fortitude, rejoicing and 
praising God, that he had numbered them among those who 
freely gave up their miserable existence here for the truth of the 
gospel, in hopes of obtaining an everlasting inheritance in the 
heavenly mansions. 
17 



194 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

On the 24th of the same month likewise, William Adderhall, 
minister, died in the prison of the King's Bench, and was buried 
in the back yard : also John Clement, wheelwright, dying in 
the said prison, was buried in like manner upon the dunghill in 
the back yard, on the 25th day of June. 

A pious young man, a merchant's servant, for his adherence 
to the truth, suffered cruel persecution from the papists, and was 
burnt at Leicester, June 26, 1556. 

MARTYRDOMS OF H. WYE, W. HOLLYWELL, R. JACKSON, L. PERN, J. 
DERIFALL, T. BOWY'ER, G. SEARLS, L. COUGH, H. ADLINTON, J. ROUTH, 
E. HURST, ELIZ. PEPER, AND AGNES GEORGE. 

These thirteen persons were apprehended in the different 
places where they lived, the greater part of them being inhabit- 
ants of the county of Essex ; and were sent, at various times, 
up to London, to be examined by bishop Bonner concerning 
their religious principles. -" 

On the 9th of June they were all brought together before Dr. 
Darbyshire, the bishop's chancellor. 

These thirteen persons being thus examined by the bishop of 
London's chancellor, in open court, persisting in their answers, 
and refusing to recant, or be reconciled to the church of Rome, 
had sentence of condemnation pronounced against them ; and 
being delivered over to the secular power, were all sent to 
Newgate. 

Three others were also condemned to die at the same time: 
but before the day appointed for their execution, a reprieve was 
sent them by cardinal Pole. 

Early in the morning of the 28th of June, 1556, being the 
day appointed for their execution, they were conducted from 
Newgate to Stratford-le-Bow, the place allotted for them to 
confirm that faith they had professed, and to which they had so 
strenuously adhered. On their arrival at the destined place, 
the sheriff made use of a stratagem to bring them over to the 
Romish faith. He divided them into two companies, and 
placed them in separate apartments. This done, he visited one 
company, and told them the other had recanted, by which their 
lives would be saved ; and exhorted them to follow their exam- 
ple, and not cast themselves away by their own mere obstinacy. 

But this scheme failed in its effect ; for they told the sheriff, 
that their faith was not built on man, but on Christ crucified. 

The sheriff, finding his project fail with the first party to 
whom he applied, had recourse to the same means with the 
others, admonishing them to recant like wise men, and not 



ROBERT BERNARD. 195 

be guilty of destroying themselves by their own bigotry and 
prejudice. 

But they answered to the same effect as their brethren had 
done before, assuring the sheriff that their faith was not built on 
man, but on Christ, and his infallible word. 

They were then brought from their different apartments, and 
all led together to the place of execution, where they embraced 
each other, and, after praying in the most fervent manner, pre- 
pared themselves for their fate. 

These thirteen steadfast believers in Christ were chained to 
different stakes, but all burnt together in one fire, showing such 
love to each other, and firm faith in their Savior and Redeemer 
Jesus Christ, that the concourse of spectators assembled on the 
occasion were astonished at the undaunted behavior of so many 
poor innocents, who thus patiently endured the acutest torments, 
rather than comply with the errors and superstitions of the 
church of Rome. 

MARTYRDOMS OF ROBERT BERNARD, ADAM FOSTER, AND ROBERT 

LAWSON. 

The first of these martyrs was a poor laborer, and lived in the 
parish of Frasden, in the county of Suffolk. Being apprehended 
by the constable of the parish for not going to church, he was 
brought before Dr. Hopton, bishop of Norwich, who inquired of 
him whether he had been with a priest at Easter to confess, or 
whether he had received the sacrament of the altar. 

To these questions Bernard frankly replied, " No, I have not 
been with the priest, nor confessed myself unto him : but I have 
confessed my sins unto almighty God, and I trust he hath for- 
given me ; wherefore I need not go to the priest for such mat- 
ters, as he cannot forgive his own sins." 

The bishop, after using various arguments to induce him to 
go to confession, without effect, pronounced him. a heretic; on 
which Bernard said, " My lord, it grieveth me not one whit to 
be called a heretic by you, for so your forefathers called the 
prophets and apostles of Christ, long before this time." 

Incensed at this bold reply, the bishop arose, and bid Bernard 
follow him. He then went to the sacrament of the altar, to 
which he kneeled and prayed, and severely reproved Bernard 
for not doing the same : but our martyr told him, he found no 
authority for such behavior in the word of God. 

The bishop then addressing him, pointed to the pix over the 
altar, in which the wafer, or host, is kept, and said, " Why, 
lewd fellow, whom seest thou yonder ?" — " Nobody, my lord," 



196 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

replied Bernard. — " Seest thou not thy Maker, varlet ?" de- 
manded the prelate. — " My Maker !" returned the countryman, 
" no ; I see nothing but a few clouts hanging together in a heap." 

This answer so irritated the bishop, that he commanded the 
jailer to " take him away, and lay irons enough on him," de- 
claring he would reduce him to subjection before he had done 
with him. 

The next day he was again brought before the bishop, who 
asked him if he retained the same opinions as he professed 
yesterday. To which Bernard replied, "Yes, my lord, I re- 
member myself well, for I am the same man to-day that I was 
yesterday, and hope I shall remain steadfast to the end of my 
life in the principles I have professed." 

One of his lordship's attendants being desirous of examining 
Bernard himself, advised the bishop not to give himself any 
further trouble, but to commit his examination to him. Having 
obtained his request, he took Bernard to an inn, where several 
popish emissaries were assembled. They first used many fair 
words, and alluring promises, to persuade him to abjure what 
they called his heretical opinions. This, however, not taking 
effect, they threatened him with whipping, the stocks, and burn- 
ing ; but all to no purpose. He told them, " Friends, I am not 
better than my master, Christ, and the prophets, whom your 
forefathers served after this sort ; and I, for his sake, am content 
to suffer the like at your hands, if God should so permit, trust- 
ing that he will strengthen me in the same, according to his 
promise, and that of all his ministers." 

After this declaration they took him back to the bishop, who, 
according to the usual form of proceeding in the court, con- 
demned him as a heretic, and he was delivered over to the 
secular power. 

Adam Foster lived in the parish of Mendlesham, in the 
county of Suffolk. He was apprehended in his own house by 
two constables, at the command of a neighboring justice, for 
absenting himself from mass, and not receiving the sacrament 
at Easter. Being taken before the bishop of Norwich, he ex- 
amined him concerning his religious principles, and finding him 
steadfast in his faith, according to the doctrines set forth in the 
days of king Edward VI., he condemned him as a heretic, and 
he was delivered to the secular power, to be proceeded against 
according to law. 

Robert Lawson, by trade a linen-draper, was apprehended 
on the same account as the two former ; and being brought 
before Sir John Tyrrel, he committed him to the prison of Eye, 




Archbishop Cranmer burnt at the stake, March 21, 1556. 




even men and two women burnt together in onejire, at Stratford Essex* 






\ 



JOHN FORTUNE — JOHN CARELESS. 197 

in Suffolk* After lying there a short time, he was conducted 
to the bishop of Norwich, for examination, when, holding fast 
to the principles he had professed, and withstanding every ef- 
fort made use of by the bishop to bring him to recant, he was 
pronounced an obstinate heretic, received sentence of death, and 
was delivered into the hands of the sheriff, in order for exe- 
cution. 

On the 30th of June, 1556, these three soldiers of Christ 
were conducted to Bury St. Edmunds, in Suffolk, where, being 
all fastened to one stake, they died in full assurance of happiness 
hereafter, giving glory to that God who had enabled them to 
undergo their sufferings for his name's sake. 

JOHN FORTUNE. 

About the same time that these three suffered, there was one 
John Fortune, a blacksmith, of the parish of Mendlesham, in 
Suffolk, who was several times examined by the bishop of Nor- 
wich, and others, respecting the mass, the sacrament of the altar, 
and other points of the Romish religion, which he refuted by 
texts quoted from scripture. His sentence of condemnation is 
recorded in the bishop's register ; but whether it was ever car- 
ried into execution we are not informed ; if not burnt, however, 
he most probably died in prison, as the unrelenting persecutors 
very seldom allowed their victims to escape. 

SUFFERINGS AND DEATH OF JOHN CARELESS, IN THE KING'S BENCH. 

About the first of July, 1556, John Careless, of Coventry, 
weaver, died in the King's Bench prison: who though he were 
by the secret judgment of almighty God prevented by death, so 
that he came not to the full martyrdom of his body, yet is he no 
less worthy to be counted in honor and place of Christ's mar- 
tyrs, than others that suffered most cruel torments ; as well 
because he was for the same truth's sake a long time imprison- 
ed, as also for his willing mind and the zealous affection he had 
thereunto, if the Lord had so determined it. 

It appears that Careless had suffered two years' imprisonment 
at Coventry, which much distressed his wife and children, who 
depended on him for support. After that, being brought to 
London, he was endued with such patience and constant forti- 
tude, that he longed for nothing more earnestly than to die in 
the fire for the profession of his faith ; but it pleasing God to 
prevent him by death in the prison, he was buried under a 
dunghill in the fields, by order of the persecutors. 
17* 



198 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 



MARTYRDOM OF JOAN WASTE, A POOR BLIND WOMAN, AT DERBY. 

This poor woman, during the time of king Edward VI., used 
to frequent the church to hear divine service in the vulgar 
tongue, together with homilies and sermons, by which means 
she became confirmed and established in the principles of the 
reformed religion. Having purchased a New Testament in 
English, she applied to an old man, whom she paid for reading 
such passages as she directed him ; by which means she became 
so well versed in the holy scriptures, that she could repeat en- 
tire chapters by heart, and, by citing proper texts of scripture, 
would prove the errors in religion, as well as the vicious cus- 
toms and practices that prevailed in those days. 

Thus did this pious woman increase in the knowledge of 
God's word, leading a life of exemplary godliness, without mo- 
lestation, or any kind of interruption, during the reign of king 
Edward. 

But on his death, and the rein trod uction of popery, on the 
accession of queen Mary, because she continued steadfast in the 
profession of that faith she had embraced from a knowledge of 
the divine word, and refused to communicate with those who 
maintained contrary doctrines, she was brought before Dr. Ealph 
Bayn, bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, and Dr. Draycott, the 
chancellor, as one suspected of heresies, and by them committed 
to the prison of Derby. 

She was several times privately examined by Peter Finch, 
the bishop's official ; and afterwards brought to public examina- 
tion before the bishop, his chancellor, and several more of the 
queen's commissioners. She answered, that she believed just 
as much as the holy scriptures taught her, and according to 
what she had heard preached by many pious and learned men ; 
some of whom had suffered imprisonment, and others death, for 
the same doctrine* 

Among others, she mentioned Dr. Taylor, and asked, if they 
would follow his example in testimony of their doctrine ? which 
unless they were willing to do, she desired, for God's sake, they 
would not trouble her, (being a poor, blind, and illiterate wo- 
man,) declaring, at the same time, she was ready to yield up 
her life in defence of that faith she had publicly professed. 

The bishop and his chancellor urged many arguments in 
proof of the real presence in the sacrament of the altar, de- 
manding why Christ was not as able to make bread his body, 
as to turn water into wine, or raise Lazarus from the dead, and 
the like, threatening her, at the same time, with imprisonment, 
torments, and death. 



SHARP — HART— RAVENDALE— HORN. 199 

The poor woman, terrified at these threatenings, told the 
bishop, if he would, before that company, take it upon his con- 
science, that the doctrine which he would have her to believe, 
concerning the sacrament, was true, and that he would, at the 
awful tribunal of God, answer for her therein, (as Dr. Taylor, 
in several sermons, had offered,) she would then further answer 
them. 

The bishop declaring that he would, the chancellor said to 
him, " My lord, you know not what you do ; you may in no 
case answer for a heretic." The bishop, struck by this interpo- 
sition of the chancellor, demanded of the woman whether she 
would recant or not, and told her she should answer for herself. 

This honest Christian finding, at length, they designed but to 
prevaricate, told his lordship, that if he refused to take upon 
himself to answer for the truth of what they required her to 
believe, she would answer no further, but desired them to do 
their pleasure. 

In consequence of this, sentence of death was pronounced 
against her, and she was delivered to the sheriff, who immedi- 
ately reconducted her to the prison. 

On the 1st of August, 1556, the day appointed for her execu- 
tion, she was led to the stake. Immediately on her arrival at 
the fatal spot, she knelt down, and, in the most fervent manner, 
repeated several prayers, desiring the spectators to pray also for 
her departing soul. Having finished her prayers, she arose, 
and was fastened to the stake; when the fagots being lighted, 
she called to the Lord to have mercy on her, and continued so to 
do, till the flames deprived her both of speech and life. And 
thus did this poor woman quit this mortal stage, to obtain a life 
of immortality, the sure and certain reward of all those who 
suffer for the sake of the true gospel of their blessed Redeemer. 

VARIOUS MARTYRDOMS. 

On the 8th of September, 1556, one Edward Sharp was 
burnt at Bristol; and on the 25th of the same month, a young 
man, by trade a carpenter, suffered at the same place. 

The day preceding the last martyrdom, John Hart, a shoe- 
maker, and Thomas Ravendale, a currier, were burnt at May- 
field, in Sussex. And, 

On the 27th of the same month, one John Horn, and a 
woman, whose name is unknown, suffered at Wooton-under- 
Edge, in Gloucestershire. 

All these martyrs submitted to their fate with the most Chris- 
tian fortitude, giving glory to God for having numbered them 
among the followers and advocates of his most holy gospel. 



200 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CH&ISTIANS* 



FIVE PERSONS STARVED TO DEATH. 

The last on record who suffered for the truth of the gospel in 
the bloody year 1556, were five persons, (confined, with many 
others, in Canterbury castle,) who were cruelly starved to death. 
Their names were as follow :— William Foster, Alice Pot- 
kins, and John Archer, who had been condemned ; John 
Clark, and Dunstan Crittenden, who had not been con- 
demned. 

The cruel usage these unhappy persons suffered from their 
unfeeling persecutors is displayed in a letter written by one of 
them, and thrown out of the window of the prison ; of which 
the following is an exact copy : — 

" Be it known unto all men that shall read, or hear read, 
these our letters, that we the poor prisoners of the castle of 
Canterbury, for God's truth, are kept, and lie in, cold irons, and 
our keepers will not suffer any meat to be brought to us to 
comfort us. And if any man do bring us any thing, as bread, 
butter, cheese, or any other food, the said keeper will charge 
them that so bring us any thing, except money or raiment, to 
carry it them again ; or else, if he do receive any food of any 
for us, he doth keep it for himself, and he and his servants do 
spend it, so that we have nothing thereof; and thus the keeper 
keepeth away our victuals from us : insomuch, that there are 
four of us prisoners there for God's truth famished already ; 
and thus is it his mind to famish us all: and we think he is 
appointed thereunto by the bishops and priests, and also of the 
justices, so to famish us ; and not only us of the said castle, but 
also all other prisoners, in other prisons, for the like cause to be 
also famished : notwithstanding, we write not these our letters 
to that intent we might not afford to be famished for the Lord 
Jesus's sake, but for this cause and intent, that they, having no 
law to famish us in prison, should not do it privily, but that the 
murderers' hearts should be openly known to all the world, that 
all men may know of what church they are, and who is their 
father. — Out of the castle of Canterbury." 

Among the others confined with these five were ten men, who 
having been examined by Dr. Thornton, suffragan of Dover, 
and Nicholas Harpsfield, archdeacon of Canterbury, were sen- 
tenced to be burnt. They had been confined a considerable 
time, but their sentence was, at length, put into execution; and 
they were the first who opened the bloody transactions of the 
year 1557. Their names were as follow : — Stephen Kemp, of 
Norgate ; William Waterer, of Beddingden ; W. Prowting. 



PAPISTICAL PROCLAMATION. 201 

of Thornham ; W. Lowick, of Cranbroke ; Thomas Hudson, of 
Salenge ; William Hay, of Hithe ; Thomas Stephens, of Bed- 
dingen ; John Philpot, Nicholas Final, and Matthew Bead- 
bridge, all of Tenterden. 

The six first were burnt at Canterbury, on the 15th of Janu- 
ary, 1-557 ; Stephens and Philpot suffered the next day at Wye ; 
and Final and Bradbridge the day after, at Ashford. 

They all bore their sufferings with Christian fortitude, re- 
joicing that their troubles were drawing to an end, and that 
they should leave this world, for that where the weary are at 
rest. 

further persecutions. 

Notwithstanding the numerous sacrifices that had been made 
in various parts of the kingdom, since the accession of queen 
Mary, in order to gratify the barbarous bigotry of that infatuated 
princess, yet they were far from being at an end. Naturally 
disposed to tyranny, and encouraged in her bloodthirsty princi- 
ples by that monster in human form, Bonner, bishop of London, 
she determined to compel all her subjects who differed from 
herself in religious sentiments either to submit to her maxims, 
or fall victims to her insatiable vengeance. 

To facilitate this horrid intention, in the beginning of Febru- 
ary, 1557, she issued the following proclamation, which was, in 
a great measure, promoted by bishop Bonner, whose diabolical 
soul, in conjunction with hers, thirsted after the blood of those 
who worshiped God in purity of heart. 

" Philip and Mary, by the grace of God, king and queen of 
England, &c. To the right reverend father in God, our right 
trusty and well beloved counsellor Thomas, bishop of Ely, and to 
our right trusty and well beloved William Windsore, knight, lord 
Windsore ; Edward North, knight, lord North ; and to our trusty 
and well beloved counsellor J. Bourn, knight, one of our chief 
secretaries, J. Mordaunt, knight, Francis Englefield, knight, 
master of our wards and liveries, Edward Walgrave, knight, 
master of our great wardrobe, Nicholas Hare, knight, master of 
the rolls, Thomas Pope, knight, Roger Cholmley, knight, Rich- 
ard Rede, knight, Rowland Hill, knight, William Rastal, serjeant 
at law, Henry Cole, clerk, dean of Paul's, William Roper, and 
Ralph Cholmley, esquires, William Cook, Thomas Martin, 
John Story, and John Vau^han, doctors of the law, greeting. 

" Forasmuch as divers devilish and slanderous persons have 
not only invented, bruited, and set forth divers false rumors, 



202 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

tales, and seditious slanders against us, but also have sown 
divers heresies, and heretical opinions, and set forth divers 
seditious books within this our realm of England, meaning 
thereby to stir up division, strife, contention, and sedition, not 
only amongst our loving subjects, but also betwixt us and our 
said subjects, with divers other outrageous misdemeanors, enor- 
mities, contempts, and offences, daily committed and done, to 
the disquieting of us and our people : we, minding the due 
punishment of such offenders, and the repressing of such like 
offences, enormities, and misbehaviors from henceforth, having 
special trust and confidence in your fidelities, wisdoms, and dis- 
cretions, have authorized, appointed, and assigned you to be our 
commissioners ; and by these presents do give full power and 
authority unto you, and three of you, to inquire, as well by the 
oaths of twelve good and lawful men, as by witnesses, and all 
other means and politic ways you can devise, of all and singular 
heretical opinions, lollardies, heretical and seditious books, con- 
cealments, contempts, conspiracies, and all false rumors, tales, 
seditious and slanderous words or sayings, raised, published, 
bruited, invented, or set forth against us, or either of us, or 
against the quiet governance and rule of our people and subjects, 
by books, lies, tales, or otherwise, in any county, key, bowing, 
cr other place or places, within this our realm of England, or 
elsewhere, in any place, or places, beyond the seas, and of the 
bringers-in, utterers, buyers, sellers, readers, keepers, or con- 
veyers of any such letter, book, rumor, and tale ; and of all and 
every their coadjutors, counsellors, comforters, procurers, abet- 
tors and maintainers, giving unto you, and three of you, full 
power and authority, by virtue hereof, to search out, and take 
into your hands and possessions, all manner of heretical and 
seditious books, letters, and writings, wheresoever they, or any 
of them, shall be found, as well in printers' houses and shops as 
elsewhere, willing you, and every of you, to search for the same 
in all places, according to your discretions. 

" And also to inquire, hear, and determine, all and singular 
enormities, disturbances, misbehaviors, and negligences commit- 
ted in any church, chapel, or other hallowed place within this 
realm ; and also for and concerning the taking away, or with- 
holding any lands, tenements, goods, ornaments, stocks of mo- 
ney, or other things belonging to every of the same churches 
and chapels, and all accounts and reckonings concerning the 
same. 

" And also to inquire and search out all such persons as obsti- 
nately do refuse to receive the blessed sacrament of the altar, to 



PAPISTICAL PROCLAMATION. > 203 

hear mass, or to come to their parish churches, or other conve- 
nient places appointed for divine service ; and all such as refuse 
to go on procession, to take holy bread or holy water, or other- 
wise, do misuse themselves in any church, or other hallowed 
places, wheresoever any of the same offences have been, or here- 
after shall be committed, within this our said realm. 

" Nevertheless, our will and pleasure is, that when, and as 
often as any person or persons, hereafter being called or con- 
vened before you, do obstinately persist, or stand in any manner 
of heresy, or heretical opinion, that then ye, or three of you, do 
immediately take order, that the same person, or persons, so 
standing, or persisting, be delivered and committed to his ordi- 
nary, there to be used according to the spiritual and ecclesiasti- 
cal laws. 

" And also we give unto you, or three of you, full power and 
authority, to inquire and search out all vagabonds, and master- 
less men, barrotors, quarrelers, and suspected persons, abiding 
within our city of London, and ten miles compass of the same, 
and all assaults and affrays done and committed within the same 
city and compass. 

a And further, to search out all wastes, decays, and ruins of 
churches, chancels, chapels, parsonages, and vicarages, in the 
diocese of the same, being within this realm, giving you, and 
every of you, full power and authority, by virtue hereof, to hear 
and determine the same, and all other offences and matters 
above specified and rehearsed, according to your wisdoms, con- 
sciences, and discretions, willing and commanding you, or three 
of you, from time to time, to use and devise all such politic 
ways and means, for the trial and searching out of the premises, 
as by you, or three of you, shall be thought most expedient and 
necessary : and upon inquiry, and due proof had, known, per- 
ceived, and tried out, by the confession of the parties, or by 
sufficient witnesses before you, or three of you, concerning the 
premises, or any part thereof, or by any other ways or means 
requisite, to give and award such punishment to the offenders, 
by fine, imprisonment, or otherwise ; and to take such order for 
redress and reformation of the premises, as to your wisdoms, or 
three of you, shall be thought meet and convenient. 

" Further willing and commanding you, and every three of 
you, in case you shall find any person, or persons, obstinate or 
disobedient, either in their appearance before you, or three of 
you, at your calling or assignment, or else in not accomplishing, 
or not obeying your decrees, orders, and commandments, in any 
thing or things, touching the premises, or any part thereof, to 



SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

commit the same person, or persons, so offending, to ward, there 
to remain, till by you, or three of you, he be discharged or 
delivered, &c." 

ACCOUNT OF TWENTY-TWO PERSONS APPREHENDED AT COLCHESTER, 
AND BROUGHT TO LONDON, FOR EXAMINATION BY BONNER. 

The proclamation which we have given above was issued on 
the 8th of February, 1557, and gave the new inquisition an 
opportunity of extending their horrid ravages ; so that persecu- 
tion universally prevailed, and most of the jails in the kingdom 
were crowded with prisoners, for the true faith. 

The rage of persecution was particularly prevalent in and 
about the town of Colchester, insomuch that twenty-three per- 
sons were apprehended together, of which number one only 
escaped ; the others being sent up to London, in order to abide 
by the award of the bloody tribunal. These poor people con- 
sisted of fourteen men and eight women, who were fastened 
together, with a chain placed between them, each person being 
at the same time tied separately with a cord round the arm. 
On their entrance into the city they were pinioned, and in that 
manner conducted to Newgate. 

These twenty-two prisoners were at length brought before 
bishop Bonner, who examined them separately with respect to 
their faith. The bishop and the other judges would have passed 
sentence on them, had it not been for cardinal Pole, and some 
others, who thought the putting to death of so many at one time 
would produce a great disturbance among the people. It was 
therefore decreed, that they should make a submission, or 
confession, and, thereupon, be discharged. This they readily 
agreed to ; and the following paper w T as drawn up and signed 
by them. 

" Because our Savior at his last supper took bread, and when 
he had given thanks, he brake it, and gave it unto his disciples, 
and said, ' Take, eat, this is my body which is given for you, 
this do in remembrance of me ;' therefore, according to the 
words of our Savior Jesus Christ, we do believe in the sacra- 
ment to be spiritually Christ's body. And likewise he took the 
cup, gave thanks, and gave it to his disciples, and said, ' This is 
my blood of the New Testament which is shed for many ;' 
therefore likewise we do believe that it is spiritually the blood 
of Christ, according as his church doth administer the same. 
Unto which Catholic church of Christ we do, like as in all other 
matters, submit ourselves, promising therein to live as it becom- 
eth good Christian men, and here in this realm to behave 



■ 

LOSEBY, RAMSEY, AND OTHERS. 206 

ourselves as becometh faithful subjects unto our most gracious 
king and queen, and to all other superiors both spiritual and 
temporal, according to our bounden duties. " 

The whole twenty-two persons brought from Colchester re- 
spectively subscribed their names to this submission ; as did also 
six others who had been apprehended in London, and were 
brought up with them at the same time for examination. The 
names of the whole were as follow : 

John Atkin, Allen Sympson, Richard George, Thomas Fire- 
fanne, William Munt, Richard Joly, Richard Gratwick, Thomas 
Winssey, Richard Rothe, Richard Clarke, Stephen Glover, Ro- 
bert Colman, Thomas Merse, William Bongeor, Robert Bercock, 
Margaret Hyde, Elyn Euring, Christian Pepper, Margaret Field, 
Alice Munt, Joan Winsley, Cicely Warren, Rose Allen, Ann 
Whitlocke, George Barker, John Saxby, Thomas Locker, and 
Alice Locker. 

In consequence of their submission, they were all immediately 
set at liberty ; though several of them were afterwards appre- 
hended, and put to death. One of the women, Margaret Hyde, 
escaped their resentment but a short time, being one in the list 
we have next to bring forward, of those who suffered for the 
truth of the gospel. 

MARTYRDOMS OF THOMAS LOSEBY, HENRY RAMSEY, THOMAS THYR- 
TELL, MARGARET HYDE, AND AGNES STANLEY. 

The popish emissaries having laid information against these 
five persons, they were all apprehended, and being examined by 
several justices of the county of Essex, in which they resided, 
were by them sent up to the bishop of London, for examination. 
On their arrival the bishop referred them to the chancellor, who, 
after questioning them on the articles usual on such occasions, 
committed them all to Newgate. 

After being imprisoned nearly three months, by order of the 
chancellor, they were summoned to appear before the bishop 
himself, when the following singular articles were exhibited 
against them. 

u 1. That they thought, believed, and declared, within some 
part of the city and diocese of London, that the faith, religion, 
and ecclesiastical service here observed and kept, as it is in the 
realm of England, was not a true and laudable faith, religion, 
and service, especially concerning the mass and the seven sacra- 
ments, nor were they agreeable to God's word ; and that they 
coulgl not, without grudging and scruple, receive and use it, nor 
18 



206 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

conform themselves unto it, as other subjects of this realm cus- 
tomarily have done* 

" 2. That they had thought, &c. that the English service, set 
forth in the time of king Edward VI., in this realm of England, 
was good, godly, and Catholic in all points, and that it alone 
ought, here in this realm, to be received, used, and practised, 
and none other. 

"3. That they had thought, &c. that they were not bound to 
their parish church, and there to be present at matins, mass, 
even-song, and other divine service. 

" 4. That they had thought, &c. that they were not bound to 
come to procession to the church, upon times appointed, and to 
go in the same with others of the parish, singing or saying the 
accustomed prayers used in the church, nor to bear a taper, or 
candle, on Candlemas-day, nor take ashes on Ash- Wednesday, 
nor bear palms on Palm-Sunday, nor to creep to the cross 
upon days accustomed, nor to receive holy water and holy bread, 
or to accept or allow the ceremonies and usages of the church, 
after the manner in which they were then used in this realm. 

" 5. That they had thought, &c. that they were not bound, at 
and time, to confess their sins to any priest, and to receive abso- 
lution at his hands as God's minister, nor to receive, at any time, 
the blessed sacrament of the altar, especially as it is used in the 
church of England. 

" 6. That they had thought, &c. that in matters of religion 
and faith, they were bound to follow and believe their own 
conscience only, and not credit the determination and common 
order of the Catholic church, and see of Rome, nor any member 
thereof. 

" 7. That they had thought, &c. that the fashion and manner 
of christening infants is not agreeable to God's word, and that 
none can be effectually baptized, and therefore saved, except 
they are arrived to years of discretion to believe themselves, 
and willingly accept, or refuse, baptism a{ their pleasure. 

" 8. That they had thought, &c. that prayers to saints, or 
prayers for the dead, were not available, nor allowable, by God's 
word, and that souls departed this life do immediately go to 
heaven or hell, or else do sleep till the day of doom : so that 
there is no place of purgation at all. 

" 9. That they had thought, &c. that all those, who in the 
time of king Henry VIII. or in the time of queen Mary, the 
present sovereign of England, had been burned as heretics, 
were no heretics, but faithful, sincere Christians; especially 
Barnes, Garret, Jerome, Frith, Rogers, Hooper, Cardmaker, 



L0SEBY, RAMSEY, AND OTHERS. 207 

Latimer, Taylor, Bradford, Cranmer, Eidley, &c. ; and that 
they did allow and approve all their opinions, and disapproved 
their condemnations and burnings. 

" 10. That they had thought, &c. that fasting and prayers 
used in the church of England, and the appointing a day for 
fasting, and abstaining from flesh upon fasting days, especially 
in the time of Lent, is not laudable nor allowable, by God's 
word, and that men ought to have liberty, at all times, to eat all 
kind of meats. 

11 11. That they had thought, &c. that the sacrament of the 
altar is an idol, and to reserve, keep, and honor it, is idolatry 
and superstition, as was also the mass and elevation of the 
sacrament. 

" 12. That they had thought, &c. that they were not bound 
to be convened before an ecclesiastical judge, concerning matters 
of faith, nor to make answer at all, especially upon oath on a 
book." 

The first, second, third, fourth, fifth, eighth, and ninth arti- 
cles, they granted in general, excepting that they denied " that 
souls departed do sleep till the day of judgment," as mentioned 
in the eighth article. 

With respect to the sixth article objected to them, they thought 
themselves bound to believe the true Catholic church, so far as it 
instructed them according to God's holy word, but not to follow 
the determinations of the superstitious church of Rome. 

Concerning the eighth and twelfth articles, they denied that 
they ever maintained any such absurd opinions, but granted that 
man of himself, without the aid and assistance of God's spirit, 
had no power to do any thing acceptable in the sight of God. 

To the tenth article they answered, that true fasting and 
prayer, used according to God's word, was allowable, and ap- 
proved in his sight ; and that, by the same word, every faithful 
man may eat all meats at all times, with thanksgiving to God 
for the same. 

Having given these answers, they were dismissed, and con- 
veyed to their respective places of confinement, where they 
remained till they were again brought before the bishop, who 
made no other inquiry than whether they would abjure their 
heretical opinions ; and on their refusal, again dismissed them. 

At length they were brought into the public consistory court 
at St. Paul's, and severally asked what they had to allege why 
sentence of condemnation should not be pronounced against 
them. 

Thomas Loseby being first questioned, thus replied : " God 



208 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

give me grace to withstand you, your sentence, and your law, 
which devours the flock of Christ, for I perceive death is my 
certain portion, unless I will consent to believe in that accursed 
idol the mass." 

Thomas Thyrtell being next examined, said, " My lord, if you 
make me a heretic, you make Christ and the twelve apostles all 
heretics, for I hold one and the same faith with them, and I will 
abide in that faith, being assured that it will obtain for me ever- 
lasting life." 

Henry Ramsey being required to recant, answered, " My 
lord, would you have me abjure the truth, and, for fear of death 
here, forfeit eternal felicity hereafter ?" 

Margaret Hyde being questioned, replied, "My lord, you 
have no cause to pronounce sentence against me, for I am in 
the true faith, nor will ever forsake it ; and I wish I was more 
confirmed in it than I am." 

Agnes Stanley, the last examined, said, "My lord, I would 
suffer every hair of my head to be burned, before I would re- 
nounce the faith of Christ, and his holy gospel." 

The court now broke up, but was convened again in the af- 
ternoon, when the prisoners were brought in, and were again 
examined. 

Thomas Loseby being first called upon, his articles and an- 
swers were read ; after which many attempts were made to 
bring him to a recantation, but he persisted in his faith, declar- 
ing, that " he hoped he had the spirit of God, which had led him 
into all truth :" his sentence of condemnation was therefore 
pronounced, and he was delivered to the custody of the sheriff, 
in order for execution. 

Various arguments were used by the bishop to bring over 
Margaret Hyde ; but she declared she would not depart from 
what she had said upon any penalty whatever ; and added, that 
she would gladly hear his lordship instruct her from some part 
of God's word, and not talk to her concerning holy bread and 
holy water, which was no part of God's word. 

The bishop, finding her resolute, pronounced sentence on her, 
and she was delivered over to the secular power. 

Agnes Stanley was also admonished to return to the commu- 
nion of the holy mother church, but she continued steadfast in 
her faith, declaring she was no heretic, and that those who were 
burned, as the papists said, for heresy, were true martyrs in the 
sight of God. In consequence of this she likewise received 
sentence of death, and was committed to the care of the sheriff. 

Thomas Thyrtell being asked what he had to allege, an- 



STEPHEN GRATWICK. 209 

swered, " My lord, I will not hold with those idolatrous opin- 
ions you would inculcate ; for I say the mass is idolatry, and I 
will abide by the faith of Christ as long as I live." 

He was then sentenced in the same manner as the former. 

Henry Kamsey, who was last called, being asked whether he 
would stand by his answers, as the rest had done, or recant and 
become a new member of the church, replied, " I will never 
abjure my religion, in which I will live, and in which I will 
die." 

Their examinations being closed, and sentence of death 
passed on them all, they were immediately conducted to New- 
gate, where they continued till the 12th of April, 1557. On 
the morning of that day they were led to Smithfield, the place 
appointed for their execution, where, being fastened to two 
stakes, they were burnt in one lire, praising God as long as 
they had the power of speech, and cheerfully giving up their 
lives in testimony of the truth of the gospel. 

MARTYRDOIYE OF STEPHEN GRATWICK, WILLIAM MORANT. AND JOHN 

KING. 

Stephen Gratwick being informed against by the popish 
emissaries, on a suspicion of heresy, was apprehended, and be- 
ing carried before a justice of peace, was committed to the Mar- 
shalsea prison, where he continued for a considerable time. 

At length he was brought before Dr. White, bishop of Win- 
chester, in St. George's church, Southwark, to answer such 
questions as he should be asked relative to his religious opinions. 

The bishop first asked him if he would revoke the heresies 
which he had maintained and defended ; when Mr. Gratwick 
answering in the negative, he administered the usual articles, 
desiring him to give an explicit answer to each. 

The articles being read, Mr. Gratwick replied, "My lord, 
these articles are of your making, and not of mine, nor have I 
had any time to examine them ; therefore I desire the liberty of 
lawful appeal to mine ordinary, having no concern with you." 

During his examination, the bishop of Rochester and the 
archdeacon of Canterbury arrived, when, on a consultation about 
the present case, it was agreed to introduce a person to represent 
the ordinary ; which being done, Gratwick desired leave to de- 
part, but the counterfeit ordinary insisted on his being detained, 
saying that he was justly summoned before those lords, and 
him, on trial of his faith ; and that, if he confessed the truth, he 
should be quietly dismissed, and allowed full liberty. 

Gratwick told him, that " he would turn his own argument 
18* 



210 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

upon him, for Christ came before the high priest, scribes, and 
Pharisees, bringing the truth with him, being the very truth 
himself; yet both he and his truth were condemned, and had 
no avail with them ; the apostles likewise, and all the martyrs 
that died since Christ, did the same." 

The bishop of Winchester then asked his opinion concerning 
the sacrament of the altar ; to which he replied, " My lord, I do 
verily believe, that in the sacrament of the Lord's supper, truly 
administered in both kinds, according to the institution of Christ, 
unto the worthy receiver, he eateth mystically, by faith, the body 
and blood of Christ." 

The bishop of Rochester observed, that this definition was a 
mere evasion of the principal points, for that he separated the 
sacrament of the altar from the supper of the Lord, intimating 
thereby, that the former was not the true sacrament ; and also 
condemned their method of administering it in one kind, as well 
as hindered the unworthy receiver to eat and drink the body 
and blood of Christ, which, if duly weighed, were points of the 
highest importance, though he had craftily evaded them. 

Having entered into closer examination concerning this mat- 
ter, the counterfeit ordinary ordered the articles to be read again, 
and Gratwick refusing to make any reply, was threatened with 
excommunication; on which he thus addressed himself to his 
examiners : 

" Since ye thirst for my blood, before ye are glutted with the 
same, permit me to say a word in my own cause. On Sunday, 
my lord of Winchester, I was before you, when you took occa- 
sion to preach from these words of St. James : l If any man 
among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, 
but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.' From 
these words, my lord, by wrested inferences, you slander us poor 
prisoners, upbraiding us with the title of Arians, Herodians, 
Sacramentaries, and Pelagians. When we stood up to speak in 
vindication of ourselves, you threatened to cut out our tongues, 
and caused us to be dragged out of the church by violence : 
nevertheless I will abide by the truth to the end of my life." 

The incensed prelate, after various endeavors, by threats and 
promises, to bring him to a recantation, finding that vain, pro- 
nounced sentence of condemnation upon him, and he was deli- 
vered over to the sheriff, who immediately conducted him to the 
Marshalsea prison. Here he remained till the latter end of 
May, 1557, when he was brought to the stake in St. George's 
Fields, and there cheerfully resigned up his soul into the hands 
of him who gave it. 



ALICE BENDON, AND OTHERS. 211 

Two persons, named William Morant and John King, suf- 
fered with him ; but we have no account on record relative to 
their examinations. 

MARTYRDOM OF FIVE WOMEN AND TWO MEN AT MAIDSTONE, JUNE 

18, 1557. 

We have stated that after the proclamation in February, 1557, 
the storm of persecution began in all places to rage anew, but 
nowhere more than in the diocese of Canterbury, as the inquisi- 
tion was there under the direction of Richard Thornton, bishop 
of Dover, and the archdeacon of Canterbury, who were so furi- 
ous against the harmless flock of Christ, that they needed not 
the proclamation to stir up the coals of their burning cruelty, but 
yet were enabled by it to gratify to a greater extent their dia- 
bolical matters against the believers, We have already given 
several instances of the furious persecutions in this diocese, and 
we have now to add the following, wherein seven innocents 
were committed to the flames by these monsters, under the pre- 
tence of religion ! We shall give the account in the original 
words of the Marty relogist. 

In the next month following, being the 18th day of June, 
were seven Christian and faithful martyrs of Christ burned at 
Maidstone, whose names here follow : 

Joan Bradbridge, of Stapiehurst ; Walter Appleby, of Maid- 
stone ; Petronil, his wife ; Edmund All-in, of Frytenden ; Cath- 
arine, his wife ; John Manning's wife, of Maidstone ; Elizabeth, 
a blind maidem 

As concerning the general articles commonly objected to them 
in the public consistory, and the order of their condemnation, it 
differeth not much from the usual manner expressed before, 
neither did their answers in effect much differ from the others 
that suffered under the same ordinary in the aforesaid diocese 
of Canterbury. 

The above named, being seven, were burned' at Maidstone, 
the 18th of June, 1557. 

MARTYRDOMS OF ALICE BENDON, JOHN FISHCOCR, NICHOLAS WHITE, 
NICHOLAS PARDUE, BARBARA FINALL, MARY BRADBRIDGE, AND AMOS 
WILSON. 

Alice Bendon was the wife of Edward Bendon, of the parish 
of Stapiehurst, in the county of Kent. Being brought before a 
magistrate, on an information of heresy, she was asked why she 
absented herself from church ? To which she replied, " Because 



212 SUFFERINGS OF EARLV CHRISTIANS. 

there was much idolatry practised there, against the honor and 
glory of God." In consequence of this answer she was com- 
mitted to Canterbury castle ; but her husband making interest 
for her enlargement, she was ordered to appear before the bish- 
op of Dover, who asked her if, on condition she was released, 
she would go to church ? To this she did not give a satisfactory 
answer, notwithstanding which the bishop gave her liberty. 

On her arrival home, her husband admonished her for her 
conduct, and advised her to go to church with him ; but this 
she absolutely refused : on which she was again apprehended, 
and taken before Sir John Gifford, who committed her to her 
former place of confinement. 

In consequence of this, her husband made a second applica- 
tion for her discharge to the bishop of Dover; but in this he 
failed, the bishop telling him she was a most obstinate, irre- 
claimable heretic, and therefore he could not release her. 

Her husband then informed his lordship, that if he could keep 
her brother, Roger Hall, from her, she would conform to the 
mother church ; whereupon she was removed to another prison, 
and charge given, that if her brother came to visit her he should 
be apprehended. 

She continued some time in this place without her brother's 
knowledge, though he sought diligently to find her, at the haz- 
ard of his life. In process of time, he accidentally found her 
out, by hearing her voice as he passed by the prison window, 
when she was repeating a psalm, and bemoaning herself; but 
fearing to go to her in a publjc manner, he found a method of 
conveying to her some money and sustenance, by means of a 
long stick, with -which he reached the window of the prison. 

In thi3 dungeon she continued nine weeks, without seeing 
any one but her keeper, lying in her clothes upon straw, and 
having but three farthings-worth of bread, a day, allowed for 
her subsistence, with no other drink but water. 

This hard usage brought upon her a complication of disorders, 
insomuch that she could not walk without the greatest pain. 

After being some time confined in this lothsome prison, the 
bishop summoned her before him, and asked if she would go to 
church, promising her great favors if she would be reformed, 
and return to the holy mother church. 

To this she answered, " I am verily persuaded, by the great 
severity which you have used towards me, that ye be not of 
God, neither can your doings be godly ; and I see that you seek 
my utter destruction." 

She then showed them how miserable and lame she was, by 



WOODMAN, STEPHENS, AND OTHERS. 213 

lying so long on the cold ground in that filthy prison, where 
she was deprived of the necessaries of life. 

After this the bishop caused her to be removed from thence 
to the prison at the West-gate in Canterbury, where she had 
better usage, and continued till the latter end of April following, 
when she, and the rest of the prisoners, being brought before the 
commissioners, were severally examined ; and on persisting in 
those principles which their persecutors called heresy, they 
received sentence of excommunication, were delivered to the 
sheriff, and sent back to prison. 

Here they continued till the 19th of June, when they were 
all seven brought to the place of execution. 

Alice Bendon conducted herself with remarkable courage on 
this melancholy occasion, setting an example to her fellow-mar- 
tyrs, who kneeled down, joined together in prayer, and behaved 
with such zeal and affection, as excited the esteem of their very 
enemies. 

Having finished their devotions and mutual salutations, they 
were chained to several stakes, and being encompassed with the 
(lames, they quietly yielded up their souls to the Lord, in hopes 
of a joyful resurrection to life eternal. 

We have not any particular account of the examinations and 
sufferings of the other six martyrs ; but the following anecdote 
is related of one of them : Mary Bradbridge had two daughters, 
the one named Patience and the other Charity; and when she 
was condemned to be burnt, she desired the bishop to " take 
Patience and Charity (meaning her children) and keep them." 
— " Nay," cried the prelate, with involuntary sincerity, " I have 
nothing to do with either of them-" 

MARTYRDOMS OF RICHARD WOODMAN, GEORGE STEPHENS. WILLIAM 
MAYNARD, ALEXANDER HOSMAN, THOMASIN WOOD, MARGERY MO- 

. R1S, JAMES MOR5S, DENNiS BUEGESS. ANN ASHDON, AND MARY 
GROVES. 

Though these ten persons all suffered together, yet we do not 
find any particulars relative to any of them, except Richard 
Woodman, who was a considerable merchant in the parish of 
Warbleton, in the county of Sussex, and whose troubles arose 
from the following incident : 

There was one Fairbank, who for some time had been a 
married priest, and served the cure of WarMeton, where he 
urgently persuaded the people not to credit any doctrine but 
that which he preached, and which was then taught and set 
forth ia the days of Edward VL ; but in the beginning of the 



214 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

reign of Mary, Fairbank deserted the reformed principles, and 
favored the Romish tenets ; upon which Woodman upbraided 
him with inconstancy and cowardice, and reminded him how 
differently he then preached from what he had formerly done. 

This open and frank behavior irritated the apostate so much 
that he caused Woodman to be apprehended, and being brought 
before several of the justices of peace for the county of Sussex, 
he was committed to the King's Bench prison, where he re- 
mained a considerable time. 

At length he and four other prisoners were brought together 
to be examined by Bonner, bishop of London, who, after asking 
them some questions, desired they would be honest men, and 
profess themselves members of the true Catholic church, which 
was built upon the apostles and prophets, Christ being the head 
of the same. To this they all said, that they were members of 
the true church, and determined, by God's grace, to continue in 
the same ; upon which they were all discharged. 

Mr. Woodman had not long returned home, before a report 
was spread that he had conformed to the church of Rome : but 
he vindicated himself from that aspersion in several companies ; 
in consequence of which demonstration of his adherence to the 
Protestant faith complaint was made to Sir John Gage, who 
issued warrants for apprehending him. 

As he was one day employed in his ordinary occupation, 
three men arrested him in her majesty's name, and told him he 
must go with them before the lord chamberlain. The surprise 
of the action put him into great consternation, and he desired to 
go home, in order to put on a dress suitable to appear in before 
his superiors. On his way homeward he reflected on the 
unreasonableness of his fear, as they could lay no evil to his 
charge ; and if they killed him for well-doing, he might think 
himself happy. 

These reflections afforded him courage and comfort : he found 
that his fears arose from the frailty of human nature, his attach- 
ment to his worldly possessions, and his love to his wife and 
children. 

But when, on serious consideration, he determined, by the 
grace of God, to die for the sake of Christ and his gospel, he 
regarded nothing in this world, resolving to give up every thing 
in defence of the truth of the gospel. 

When he came to his house, he demanded of the men that 
arrested him to show their warrant, that he might know where- 
fore he was apprehended, and be better prepared to answer for 
himself when he should come before their master. The men* 



WOODMAN, STEPHENS, AND OTHERS. 215 

not having any warrant, were startled at his demand, and 
Woodman severely reprimanded them for offering to take him 
without. M I heard," said he, " that there were several warrants 
out against me, but they were called in as soon as I had satis- 
fied the commissioners, by letter, that I was not guilty of the 
things laid to my charge ; therefore set your hearts at rest, for 
I will not go with you without a warrant, unless you force me, 
which do at your peril." 

On their leaving his house, he called them back, and told 
them, if they would produce a warrant he would go with them 
freely. One of them said he would fetch one that was left at 
his house ; but while he was gone Woodman escaped, and ab- 
sented himself from home three days, during which time they 
searched his house several times, but could not find him. 

Mr. Woodman, finding his enemies thus resolved on his de- 
struction, prepared himself a convenient cottage in a wood, near 
his house, where he had pen and ink, and a bible ; and such 
necessaries as he had occasion for were daily brought to him. 

His absence produced a report that he had left the kingdom, 
in consequence of which his enemies ceased to search for him, 
and he embraced this opportunity of visiting his friends and 
brethren ; after which he went over to Flanders, but not liking 
to be so far from his family, he soon returned to England. 

When it was known that he was come home, the curate of 
the parish, and other popish emissaries, procured warrants to 
apprehend him. They often searched his house for that pur- 
pose, but could not find him, for he had artfully contrived a 
secret place which they could not discover. 

At length, through the treachery of his father, and of his 
brothers, (whom he had told of his hiding-place, and who had 
great part of his property in their hands, which they basely 
sought to secure to themselves by sacrificing him,) his house 
was beset in the night, which as soon as he discovered, he ran 
out barefoot, but unhappily treading upon some stones, he fell 
down, and being seized, was sent prisoner to London. 

On the 14th of April, 1557, he was brought before Dr. Chris- 
topherson, bishop-elect of Chichester, who told him he was sorry 
to see him in his present circumstances, as he heard that he 
was a man greatly esteemed in the country where he lived, for 
his probity and charity ; and at the same time advised him seri- 
ously to consider his situation, nor think himself wiser than all 
the realm, assuring him that he wished to do him much service. 

Mr. Woodman replied, that, so far from esteeming himself 
wiser than all the realm, he was disposed to learn of every man 



216 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS* 

that could teach him the truth ; and that, with respect to the 
general esteem in which he was held by his neighbors, he had 
ever endeavored to maintain a conscience void of offence. " As 
for my wife and children," said he, " they are all in God's hand, 
and I have them all as though I had them not, according to the 
words of St. Paul ; but had I ten thousand pounds in gold, I 
would forego it all, rather than displease my God.". 

When the bishop informed him that the sheriff applied to him 
out of respect to his character, he replied that he thought proper 
to appeal to his ordinary ; " for," said he, " they seek most 
unrighteously to shed my blood, and have laid many things 
unjustly to my charge. If you can prove, from the word of 
God, that any of my religious principles are false, I am willing 
to renounce the same, and stand here desirous of being re- 
formed." 

After this, several divines conversed with him on the sacra- 
ment of the altar, purgatory, and other popish topics ; when 
Woodman confuted his opponents with great energy and pro- 
priety, asserting, and proving from scripture, that there were 
but two sacraments ordained by Christ, and observed by him 
and his immediate disciples and apostles. 

Being required by the bishop of Chichester to give a full and 
plain account of his belief concerning the sacrament of the altar, 
he made this explicit confession : " I do believe, that if I came 
to receive the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, truly 
administered, believing that Christ was born for me, and that he 
died on the cross for me, and that I shall be saved from my sins 
by his blood, and receive the sacrament in that remembrance, 
then I believe that I do receive the whole Christ, mystically, by 
faith." 

A few days after this, Woodman was privately examined by 
lord Montague's chaplain, who made use of many arguments 
to bring him over to the Romish faith ; but all his efforts were 
ineffectual, for Woodman would not yield to any thing that was 
not founded on the authority of sacred writ. 

After some time, he was brought before the bishop of Win- 
chester, in St. George's church, Southwark, where several 
gentlemen and clergy were present, and he was then examined 
concerning the cause of his imprisonment : to which he replied, 
it was for speaking to the curate of his parish in the pulpit, and 
not for heresy. 

Being asked what he had to allege in vindication of himself 
from that charge, he cited the following words of the statute : 

" Whoso doth interrupt any preacher, or preachers, lawfully 



WOODMAN, STEPHENS, AND OTHERS. 217 

authorized by the queen's majesty, or by any other lawful ordi- 
nary, that all such shall suffer three months' imprisonment for 
so doing ; and furthermore, be brought to the quarter-sessions, 
and being sorry for the same, shall be released, upon his good 
behavior, for one whole year." 

He then observed, that he had not so offended against the 
statute, for the person to whom he spoke was not lawfully au- 
thorized, as he had not put away his wife, and, consequently, 
according to the law then in force, he had no right to preach. 

On the loth of June, Mr. Woodman was again brought be- 
fore the bishop of Winchester, in St. Savior's church, South- 
ward in the presence of the archdeacon of Canterbury, Dr. 
Langdall, and several other dignitaries. 

The bishop of Winchester producing some w T ritings, asked if 
they were his, to which he replied in the affirmative ; but refused 
to answer to any articles which that prelate might exhibit against 
him, because " he was not of his diocese, though he was then in 
it, consequently he had nothing to do with him, who was not 
his ordinary." 

After some dispute, the bishop peremptorily asked him, "if 
he would become an honest man, and conform to the holy 
mother church?" To which Mr. Woodman replied, " that no 
person could, with justice, object to his character; and that he 
was surprised he should charge him with heresy, as my lord of 
London had discharged him of all matters that were laid against 
him on that head." 

The bishop then observed, " that at the time he was released, 
perhaps those things were not laid to his charge; and that, 
therefore, they were now objected to him, because he was sus- 
pected of being a heretic." 

Mr. Woodman, at length, consented to answer to the several 
articles exhibited against him, which having done, he distinctly 
rehearsed the articles of his belief in the following form : 

" I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven 
and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one 
Lord Jesus Christ, my Savior, very God, and Man. I believe 
in God the Holy Ghost, the comforter of all God's chosen peo- 
ple, and that he is equal with the Father and the Son. I believe 
the true Catholic church, and all the sacraments that belong 
thereto." 

Being further asked concerning his belief in the sacrament 
of the altar, he told them he would answer no further questions, 
because he perceived they sought to shed his blood. 

As the bishop of Chichester was not yet consecrated, he would 
19 



218 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS, 

not undertake, judicially, to examine Woodman, and therefore 
submitted the whole to the bishop of Winchester, who, after 
many other questions and further arguments, to bring him over 
to recant, at length pronounced sentence of condemnation against 
him, and he was accordingly delivered over to the secular power. 

About a fortnight after this, Mr. Woodman was conveyed to 
Lewes, in Sussex, together with his fellow-martyrs, concerning 
whose examination (as we have already observed) there is not 
any thing recorded, except that they had been all condemned 
for heresy a few days after their apprehension. 

On the 22d of July, 1557, these ten steadfast believers in 
Christ were led to the place of execution ; and being chained to 
several stakes, were all consumed in one fire. They died with 
becoming fortitude and resignation, committing their departing 
spirits into the hands that Redeemer who was to be their final 
judge, and who, they had reason to hope, would usher them 
into the realms of bliss, with " Come, ye blessed of my Father, 
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of 
the world." 

MARTYRDOM OF THE REV. JOHN HULLIER, CAMBRIDGE. 

John Hullier was descended of reputable parents, who, after 
giving him a liberal education at a private school, sent him to 
Eton college, from whence, according to the rules of that found- 
ation, he was elected to King's college, Cambridge. 

After he had been at college about three years, he was admit- 
ted to a fellowship, and obtained a curacy at Babram, a village 
about three miles from Cambridge. He had not been long here 
before he went to Lynn, where he had several debates with the 
papists, who reporting his principles to Dr. Thurlby, bishop of 
the diocese, he sent for him, and, after a short examination rela- 
tive to his faith, committed him to the castle of Cambridge. 

A short time after this, he was cited to appear at St. Mary's 
church, before several doctors both of law and divinity, by whom 
he was reprimanded for opposing the doctrines of the church of 
Rome, and maintaining and defending those set forth in the 
days of Edward VI. 

His examination being finished, he was required to recant 
what they termed his erroneous opinions; which peremptorily 
refusing, he was degraded, condemned, and delivered over to 
the secular power, who immediately divested him of all his 
books, papers, and writings. 

On the day appointed for his execution, (being Maundy 
Thursday,) he was conducted to the stake without the town, at 



SIMON MILLER AND ELIZABETH COOPER. 219 

a place called Jesus Green, near Jesus college, where, having 
made the necessary preparations on the melancholy occasion, he 
desired the spectators to pray for hirn, and to bear witness that 
he died in the faith of Christ, sealing the same with his blood. 
He likewise assured them he died in a good cause, for the testi- 
mony of the truth, and that there was no other rock but Jesus 
Christ to build upon, nor any hope of salvation but through his 
death and sufferings. 

One of the proctors of the university, and some of the fellows 
of Trinity college, were offended at his address to the people, 
and reproved the mayor for giving him liberty to speak. Of 
this our martyr took no notice ; but being chained to the stake, 
he earnestly called upon God for his grace and support, to enable 
him to undergo the fiery trial. 

As soon as the fagots were lighted, a number of books were 
thrown into the midst of them, and among the rest a communion 
book, which Hullier catching, joyfully read in it till the flames 
and smoke prevented him from seeing. He then prayed with a 
ioud voice, holding the book as long as he was able, and prais- 
ing God for sending it to him as a comforter in his last moments. 

After the spectators thought he had been dead, he suddenly 
exclaimed, " Lord Jesus, reeeive my spirit J" and then quietly 
expired. 

His death was greatly lamented by many of the spectators, 
who prayed for him, and expressed their grief by floods of tears, 
he having been a man of eminent piety, and the most exemplary 
virtue. 

MARTYRDOMS OF SIMON MILLER AND ELIZABETH COOPER, AT NOR- 

WICH. 

Simon Miller was an eminent merchant in the town of Lynn- 
Regis. He was a godly man, zealous for the truth of the gospel, 
and consequently opposed to the popish religion. 

Having occasion to go to Norwich on business, while there he 
inquired of some people coming out of church from the popish 
service, where he might go and receive the communion, which 
being reported to chancellor Dunning, he ordered him to appear 
before him. This summons he readily obeyed, when the chan- 
cellor asked him several questions, to which answering agreeably 
to the dictates of his conscience, he was committed prisoner to 
the bishop's palace. 

After being some time in confinement, he obtained permission 
to go home, in order to settle his worldly concerns. On his 
return he was again examined by the chancellor, who required 



220 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

him to recant his opinions, and return to the holy mother 
church; but Miller remaining inflexible in his faith and profes- 
sion, was condemned as a heretic, and delivered over to the 
secular power. 

Elizabeth Cooper (his fellow-martyr) was the wife of a 
tradesman in Norwich. She had formerly been prevailed on 
to recant the Protestant, and embrace the Romish, religion ; but 
being troubled in her conscience for so doing, she went one day 
to St. Andrew's church, where, in the presence of a numerous 
audience, she stood up, and publicly revoked her recantation. 
For this she was immediately apprehended, and committed to 
prison. The next day she was brought before the bishop, when 
persisting in her faith, he condemned her as a relapsed heretic, 
and delivered her to the sheriff' for execution. 

On the 30th of July, 1557, they were both led to the stake, 
in a hollow without the city, near Bishopsgate. When the 
fagots were lighted, Elizabeth Cooper expressed some fear; but 
being encouraged by the advice and example of her fellow-mar- 
tyr, she recovered her fortitude, and they both cheerfully re- 
signed their souls into the hands of their Almighty Father. 

MARTYRDOMS OF WILLIAM BONGEOR, THOMAS BENHOTE, WILLIAM 
PURCHASE, AGNES SILVERSIDE, HELEN EWRING, ELIZABETH FOLK, 
WILLIAM MUNT, JOHN JOHNSON, ALICE MUNT, AND ROSE ALLEN,. AT 
COLCHESTER. 

It will be recollected that in a preceding page we gave an 
account of twenty two persons who were brought from Colches- 
ter to London, and there discharged, on signing a confession. 

Among these persons were William Munt, of Muchbentley, 
Alice, his wife, and Rose Allen, her daughter; who coming 
home again, not intimidated by the danger from which they 
had so recently escaped, absented themselves from the idola- 
trous service of the popish church, and frequented the company 
of pious men and women, who employed themselves diligently 
in reading the word of God, and calling on his name, through 
Christ. 

A strong persecution was raised against these poor people ; 
after a short time, however, lulled into security by its apparent 
cessation, they returned to their house, where they had not long 
been, when, on the 7th of March, 1557, about two o'clock in the 
morning, Edmund Tyrrel, (a descendant of the -person who 
murdered king Edward V. in the Tower of London,) assisted 
by the bailiff of the hundred, two constables, and a great num- 
ber of other attendants, came to the door, and after alarming 



&0SE ALLEN, AND OTHERS. 221 

the family, told Mr. Munt that he and his wife must both go 
with him to Colchester castle. 

This sudden surprise greatly affected Mrs. Munt, who was 
much indisposed in consequence of the cruel treatment she had 
before received from the popish party; but after she had a little 
recovered herself, she desired of Tyrrel that her daughter might 
be permitted to fetch her something to drink before she went 
with him. This being granted, Tyrrel took the opportunity of 
advising the daughter, as she passed by him, to give her father 
and mother better counsel, and admonish them to behave more 
like good Christians, and members of the Catholic church ; to 
which she replied, " Sir, they have a better instructer than me. 
For the Holy Ghost doth teach them, I hope, which I trust will 
not suffer them to err." 

Tytr. Why, art thou still in that mind, thou naughty house- 
wife ? marry, it is time to look upon such heretics indeed. 

Rose. Sir, with what you call heresy do I worship my Lord 
God ; I tell you truth. 

Tyrr. Then I perceive you will burn, gossip, with the rest, 
for company's sake. 

Rose. No, sir, not for company's sake, but for Christ's sake, 
if so I be compelled, and I hope in his mercy, if he call me to 
it, he will enable me to bear it. 

Then Tyrrel, turning to his company, said, " Sirs, this gossip 
will burn : what do you think of her ? — " Why, truly, sir," 
said one, " prove her, and you shall see what she will do by 
and by." 

The cruel Tyrrel, then taking the candle from her, held her 
wrist, and the lighted candle under her hand, burning it across 
the back, till the sinews cracked ; during which barbarous 

operation he said often to her, " Why, w , wilt thou not 

cry ? thou young w , wilt thou not cry ?" To which she 

constantly answered, that " she thanked God she had no cause, 
but rather to rejoice. But," she said, "he had more cause 
to weep than she, if he considered the matter well." At last he 
thrust her violently from him, with much scurrilous language ; 
of which she took no other notice than by inquiring, " Sir, have 
you done what you will do ?" To which he replied, " Yea, and 
if you think not well of it, then mend it." 

Tyrrel then seized William Munt, his wife, and Rose Allen, 
her daughter, and immediately conducted them to Colchester 
castle, together with John Johnson, whom they took in their 
way, in consequence of an information against him for heresy. 

They also the same morning apprehended six others, namely, 
19* 



222 SUFFERINGS OF EAKLY CHKlSTlAftS. 

James Bongeor, Thomas Benhote, William Purchase, Agnes 
Silverside, Helen Ewring, and Elizabeth Folk ; but not choos- 
ing to place those with the rest, they sent them prisoners to 
Mote-hall. 

After they had been confined a few days, they were all 
brought together before several justices of the peace* priests, 
and officers, (amongst whom were Kingston, the commissary, 
and Boswell, the bishop of London's secretary,) with many 
others, in order to be examined relative to their faith* 

The first person called on was William Bongeor, who being 
examined concerning his faith in the sacrament, replied, that 
" what they termed the sacrament of the altar was bread, is 
bread, and remaineth bread, and was not in the least holier for 
the consecration." This he affirmed, and at the same time 
protested against all popish doctrines in general ; upon which 
he immediately received sentence of condemnation* 

Thomas Benhote also denied the sacrament of the altar, and 
abjured the errors of the Romish church. 

William Purchase declared, that when he received the sacra- 
ment of the altar, he received bread to a holy use, and both 
bread and wine merely as such, but in remembrance of Christ's 
death and passion. 

Agnes Silverside said, she approved not of the popish conse- 
cration, nor any of the pageantry, absurdities, and superstitions 
of the church of Rome, which was the church of Antichrist. 

Helen Ewring also renounced all the unscriptural doctrines 
and practices of the church of Rome. 

Elizabeth Folk, being asked whether she believed Christ's 
body to be in the sacrament of the altar, really and substantially, 
replied, " she believed it was a substantial and a real lie." 

The commissioners being incensed at so abrupt a reply, asked 
her, " whether, after consecration, there remaineth not the body 
of Christ in the sacrament ?" She answered, that " before con- 
secration, and after, it was bread, and that what man blessed 
without God's word, was accursed and deemed abominable by 
that word." 

They then examined her relative to confession to a priest, 
going to church to hear mass, the authority of the bishop of 
Rome, &c. Unto all which she answered, that " she would 
neither use, nor frequent any of them, by the grace of God, but 
did utterly detest them from her very heart and soul." 

In consequence of this, sentence of condemnation was passed 
on her ; immediately after which she kneeled down, lifted up 
her eyes and hands to heaven, and in an audible voice praised 



&OSE ALJLEft, AND OTHERS* 223 

God, that she was deemed worthy to suffer for the testimony of 
Christ, praying, at the same time, for her persecutors. 

William Munt being asked his opinion concerning the sacra- 
ment of the altar, said, " it was a most abominable idol, and 
that if he should observe any part of the popish superstition, he 
should displease God, and bring a curse upon himself; and, 
therefore, for fear of the divine vengeance, he would not bow 
down to an idol." 

John Johnson answered to the same effect with Munt; but 
added, that " in receiving the sacrament, according to Christ's 
institution, he received the body of Christ spiritually. " 

Alice, the wife of William Munt, renounced all popish error 
and superstition, and continued steadfast in the profession of 
the true faith of Jesus Christ. 

Rose Allen, who was last called, being examined concerning 
auricular confession, hearing mass, and the seven sacraments, 
answered, that " they were an abomination in the eyes of the 
Lord, and that she would therefore forever reject them." She 
likewise told them, that " she was no member of their church, 
for they were the members of Antichrist, and would have the 
reward of Antichrist if they repented not." 

In consequence of this, sentence was read against her, and 
she and her companions were all delivered over to the secular 
power. 

They continued under confinement with much joy and com- 
fort, frequently reading the word of God, and exercising them- 
selves in fervent prayer, impatiently waiting for their happy 
dissolution. 

Bishop Bonner having an account transmitted to him of the 
condemnation of these ten innocent persons, sent down a Avar* 
rant for their being burned, and fixed the day for the second of 
August. 

As the prisoners were confined in different places, it was re- 
solved by the officer, that part of them should be executed in 
the former, and the rest in the latter part of that day. Accord- 
ingly William Bongeor, William Purchase, Thomas Benhote, 
Agnes Silverside, Helen E wring, and Elizabeth Folk, were 
brought early in the morning to the place appointed for them 
to suffer, where every thing was prepared for the barbarous 
catastrophe. 

When our martyrs arrived at the spot, they kneeled down, 
and humbly addressed themselves to almighty God, though they 
were interrupted by their popish enemies. 

Having concluded their prayers, they arose, wete fastened to 



224 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

the stakes, and all burnt in one fire. They died with amazing 
fortitude and resignation, triumphing in the midst of the flames, 
and exulting in hopes of the future glory that awaited them 
after their departure from a sinful world. 

In like manner, in the afternoon of the same day, William 
and Alice Munt, Rose Allen, and John Johnson, were brought 
to the same place where their fellow-martyrs had suffered in 
the morning. As soon as they arrived at the fatal spot, they 
all kneeled down, and, for some time, prayed with the greatest 
fervency. After prayers, they arose, and cheerfully submitted 
to be fastened to the stakes : they then earnestly prayed to God 
to enable them to endure the fiery trial, exhorted the people to 
beware of idolatry, and with their latest breath testified their 
faith in Christ crucified, whom to know is eternal life, and for 
whom to die is the glory of all his chosen people. 

MARTYRDOM OF RICHARD CRASHFIELD. 

The popish emissaries having laid an information against this 
pious man, who resided at Wymondham, in Norfolk, he was 
apprehended on suspicion of heresy, and being brought before 
chancellor Dunning, was examined concerning the ceremonies 
of the church, whether he believed them to be good and godly? 

Mr. Crashfield replied, he believed as many of them as were 
founded on the word of God, and authorized by the practice and 
example of Christ and his apostles. 

The chancellor then particularly examined him concerning 
the corporeal presence in the eucharist, to which Crashfield 
answered, he believed that Christ's body was broken by him 
upon the cross, and his blood shed for his redemption, of which 
bread and wine are a perpetual remembrance, the pledge of 
God's mercy, and the seal of his promise to those who faithfully 
believe in his most holy gospel. 

Mr. Crashfield was then dismissed for the present, and sent 
back to prison ; but the next day he was again brought before 
the chancellor, who asked him if he still persisted in his hereti- 
cal opinions ? 

On his replying in the affirmative, and confirming the same 
by his answers to other questions and articles proposed to him, 
the chancellor stood up, and in the usual form required him to 
turn from his wicked errors and damnable heresies, and not be 
an example of impiety and obstinacy, adding, through his pre- 
sumptuous reading, he persuaded silly women to embrace his 
errors at the hazard of their souls ; and promising him mercy 
on his compliance with these terms. 



MRS. J0YCK LEWIS. 

Our martyr boldly maintained his faith in the pure doctrines 
and uncorrupted ceremonies of the church of Christ, telling the 
arrogant chancellor, that it was of God, whom he had offended, 
that he craved mercy, and not of him, who was a sinner like 
himself, and therefore incapable of dispensing forgiveness, or 
giving any satisfaction to his precious soul. 

At length, the chancellor, finding him inflexibly attached to 
his opinions and principles, in order to obtain a pretence for con- 
demning him, asked when he was last at his parish church ; 
and on his answering that it was two years past, told him he 
stood excommunicated, and consequently condemned as a heretic. 

Mr. Crashfield not making any reply, sentence of death was 
passed on him, and he was delivered to the sheriff of the county 
in order for execution. 

A few days after his condemnation, he was brought to the 
stake, at Norwich, where, in the presence of numerous specta- 
tors, with great patience and constancy, he yielded up his soul 
to God in testimony of the truth of his most holy word, and in 
the sure and certain hope of enjoying an everlasting habitation 
in the heavenly mansions. 

MARTYRDOM OF MRS. JOYCE LEWIS, AT LICHFIELD. 

In the beginning of the reign of queen Mary, Mrs. Lewis 
went to church, heard mass, was confessed, and observed all the 
ceremonies of the Romish church, till at length it pleased God, 
by the preaching of a Protestant minister, to convince her of her 
errors, and convert her to the true faith of the gospel of Christ. 

What greatly contributed to her conversion was, the burning 
of Laurence Saunders, a faithful servant of God at Coventry, 
which we have described in a preceding page. She inquired 
into the cause of that cruel punishment, and being told it was 
because he would not receive the mass, she began to entertain 
doubts concerning the truth of a religion which sanctioned such 
barbarities, and accordingly applied for satisfaction to one Mr. 
Glover, who had himself suffered much for his steadfast attach- 
ment to the truth of the gospel. 

This good man pointed out to her the errors of the Romish 
church, proving them to be antiscriptural and antichristian, and 
advising her to make the word of God her constant study, and 
to regulate her faith and practice by that alone. 

Mrs. Lewis immediately took his advice, and gave herself up 
to prayer and acts of benevolence, determined, by the divine 
grace, both to do and believe as much and no more than she 
was enjoined by the word of God. 



226 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

Being one day urged by her husband to go to church, when 
the holy water was sprinkled about she turned her back towards 
it, and strongly expressed her displeasure. This being observed 
by several of the congregation, an accusation was, the next day, 
laid against her before the bishop of Lichfield, for despising the 
sacrament of the church. 

The bishop sent an officer to summon her to appear before 
him ; but when he delivered the citation to her husband, he 
threatened the officer, and holding a dagger to his breast, com- 
pelled him to eat the paper before he suffered him to depart. 

This treatment being reported to the bishop, he ordered both 
Mr. Lewis and his wife to appear before him ; when, after a 
short examination, he dismissed the husband, on his begging 
pardon for his violent conduct, and offered forgiveness to the 
wife for the offence she had committed at the church, on the 
same terms. But she courageously told his lordship, that by re- 
fusing holy water, she had not offended God, or any of his laws. 

Though the bishop was greatly offended at this reply, yet, as 
she was a person of considerable repute, he did not proceed 
immediately against her, but gave her a month to consider of 
the matter, binding her husband in one hundred pounds, to 
bring her again to him at the expiration of that time. 

When the period fixed was nearly arrived, many of their 
friends advised her husband, by all means, not to deliver her 
up, but to convey her to some convenient retirement, saying, he 
had better sustain the loss of a hundred pounds, than be instru- 
mental to his wife's destruction. 

To these remonstrances the unnatural husband replied, " he 
would not forfeit his bond for her sake ;" and accordingly, when 
the time was expired, he delivered her to the bishop, who, still 
finding her resolute, committed her to a lothsome prison. 

She was several times examined by the bishop, who reasoned 
with her on her not coming to mass, nor receiving the sacra- 
ment according to the rituals of the holy church : to this she 
replied, that " she found not those things in God's word, which 
he so much urged and magnified as necessary to salvation ;" 
adding, that " if those things were founded on God's word, she 
would receive them with all her heart." 

His lordship told her, " if she would believe no more than 
was in scripture, she was a damnable heretic ;" and after much 
further discourse with her, pronounced sentence against her as 
irreclaimable. 

The concluding scene of this pious woman's life is narrated 
with so much interesting simplicity by the Martyrologist, that 
we give it in his own words. 



MRS. JOYCE LEWIS. 227 

In the evening before her suffering, two of the priests of the 
close of Lichfield came to the under-sheriff's house, where she 
lay, and sent word to her by the sheriff, that " they were come 
to her confession, for they would be sorry she should die with- 
out." She sent them word again, " she had made a confession 
to Christ her Savior, at whose hands she was sure to have for- 
giveness of her sins. As concerning the cause for which she 
should die, she had no cause to confess that, but rather to give 
most humble praise to God, that he had made her worthy to 
suffer death for his word : and as concerning that absolution 
that they were able to give unto her, being authorized by the 
pope, she did defy the same, even from the bottom of her heart." 

Which when the priests heard, they said to the sheriff, 
" Well, to-morrow her stoutness will be proved and tried : for 
although perhaps she hath now some friends that whisper in 
her ears, to-morrow we will see who dare be so hardy as to 
come near her:" and so they went their ways with anger, that 
their confession and absolution was naught set by. 

All that night she was wonderfully cheerful and merry, with 
a certain gravity, insomuch that the majesty of the Spirit of 
God did manifestly appear in her, who did expel the fear of 
death out of her heart, spending the time in prayer, reading 
and talking with them that were purposely come unto her, to 
comfort her with the word of God. 

About three o'clock in the morning, Satan (who never sleep- 
eth, especially when death is at hand) began to bestir himself 
busily, shooting at her that fiery dart, which he is wont to do 
against all that are at defiance with him, by questioning her, 
how she could tell that she was chosen to eternal life, and that 
Christ died for her. " I grant that he died, but that he died for 
thee, how canst thou tell ?" Whilst she was troubled with this 
suggestion, they that were about her counselled her to follow 
the example of Paul, Gal. ii., where he saith, " Which hath 
loved me, and given himself for me." Also, that her vocation 
and calling to the knowledge of God's word, was a manifest 
token of God's love, and desire towards God working in her 
heart, that love and desire towards God, to please him, and to be 
justified by him through Christ, &c. By these and like persua- 
sions, and especially by the comfortable promises of Christ, 
brought out of the scripture, Satan was put to flight, and she 
comforted in Christ. 

About eight o'clock, Mr. Sheriff came into her chamber, say- 
ing these words : " Mrs. Lewis, I am come to bring you tidings 
of the queen's pleasure, which is, that you shall live but one 



228 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

hour longer in this world ; therefore it behooveth you to prepare 
yourself for it." At which words, being so grossly uttered, and 
so suddenly, by such an officer as he was, made her somewhat 
cast down. Wherefore one of her friends and acquaintance 
standing by, said these words : " Mrs. Lewis, you have great 
cause to praise God, who has vouchsafed so soon to take you 
out of this world, and made you worthy to be a witness of the 
truth, and to bear record unto Christ, that he is the only 
Savior." 

After which words, she said, " Mr. Sheriff, your message is 
welcome to me, and I thank my God that he has made me 
w r orthy to offer my life for his service." At which words the 
sheriff departed : but in the space of an hour he came back 
again, with swords and clubs ; and when he came up into her 
chamber, one of her friends desired him to give him leave to go 
with her to the stake, and to comfort her, which the sheriff 
granted at that time ; but afterwards, when she was dead, he 
was sore troubled for the same. 

Now when she was brought through the town by a number 
of bill-men, a great number of people being present, she was led 
by two of her friends, namely, Mr. Michael Reniger, and Mr. 
Augustine Bernher, and so brought to the place of execution : 
and because the place was far off, and the throng of the people 
great, and she not acquainted with the fresh air, (being so long 
in prison,) one of her friends sent a messenger to the sheriff's 
house for some drink : and after she had prayed three several 
times, in which prayers she desired God most instantly to abol- 
ish the idolatrous mass, and to deliver this realm from popery; 
(at the end of which prayers most part of the people cried, 
" Amen !" yea, even the sheriff that stood hard by her, ready to 
cast her into the fire for not allowing the mass, at this her prayer 
said with the rest of her people, " Amen !") when she had thus 
prayed, she took the cup into her hands, saying, " I drink to all 
them that unfeignedly love the gospel of Jesus Christ, and wish 
for the abolishment of popery." When she had drunk, they 
that were her friends drank also. After that a great number, 
especially the women of that town, drank with her, who after- 
wards were put to open penance in the church by the cruel 
papists, for drinking with her. 

When she was chained to the stake, she showed much cheer- 
fulness, that it passed man's reason, being so well colored in her 
face, and being so patient, that most of them that had honest 
hearts were moved, and even with tears bewailed the tyranny 
of the papists. When the fire was set to her, she made no 



RALPH ALLERTON, AND OTHERS. 229 

other resistance than by lifting up her hands towards heaven, 
being dead very soon : for the under-sheriff, at the request of 
her friends, had provided such stuff, that she was suddenly 
despatched out of this miserable world. 

This, amongst other things, is not to be forgotten, that the 
papists had appointed some to rail upon her, and to revile her, 
both as she went to the place of execution, as also when she 
went to the stake. Amongst others there was an old priest, 
who had a pair of writing tables, wherein he set down the 
names of those women that drank of the cup, (as before men- 
tioned,) and also described her friends by their apparel, for he 
could not presently learn their names, and afterwards inquired 
for them : and so immediately after process was sent for them, 
both to Coventry and other places : but God, whose providence 
sleeps not, did defend them from the hands of these cruel ty- 
rants. Unto which God, with the Son and the Holy Ghost, be 
honor and glory forever, Amen. 

MARTYRDOMS OF RALPH ALLERTON, JAMES AWSTOO, MARGERY AW- 
STOO, AND RICHARD ROTH, AT ISLINGTON. 

Mr. Ralph Allerton, being informed against by several bigoted 
papists in the neighborhood where he lived, w r as apprehended 
on suspicion of heresy; and after undergoing a short examina- 
tion before a magistrate, was committed to prison. 

A few days after he was brought before lord Darcy, at Col- 
chester, who accused him not only of absenting himself from 
church, but also that, by preaching, he had persuaded others to 
follow his example. 

To this Mr. Allerton made the following confession : that 
coming to his parish church, and finding the people sitting 
there, some gazing about, and others talking on unprofitable 
subjects, he exhorted them to pray, meditate on God's word, 
and not sit idle, to which they willingly consented ; and after 
prayer, he read a chapter to them in the New Testament. 
This he continued to do for some time, till he was informed his 
proceedings were contrary to law, as he was neither priest nor 
minister; upon which he desisted. 

He likewise confessed, that he was taken up for reading in 
the parish of Welly ; but when those that apprehended him 
understood he had read but once, and that it was an ex- 
hortation to obedience, they let him go ; after which, being 
afraid, he kept in woods, barns, and solitary places, till he was 
apprehended. 

After his examination, lord Darcy sent him to London to the 
20 



230 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

commissioners, by whom he was referred to bishop Bonner, 
who persuaded him publicly to recant his profession at St. 
Paul's church, and then dismissed him ; whereupon he returned 
into the country. 

He was greatly troubled in his conscience for what he had 
done, earnestly repented of the same, and openly professed the 
faith he had so weakly revoked, till Thomas Tye, the priest of 
the parish, (who had formerly been a professor of the truth, but 
was now a persecutor,) caused him to be apprehended, and 
again brought to the bishop of London, on the Sth of April, 1557. 

Many arguments were used by Dr. Darbyshire, the bishop's 
chancellor, and others, to bring him to a recantation ; but all 
proving ineffectual, he was sent back to prison. 

A few days after, he, with his fellow-prisoner, was ordered to 
appear before bishop Bonner, at Fulham, where, in his private 
chapel, he judicially propounded to them various articles, the 
particulars of which were addressed to Allerton, in the follow- 
ing form : 

" Thou, Ralph Allerton, canst not deny but that the informa- 
tion given against thee, and remaining now in the acts of this 
court of thine ordinary, Edmund Bonner, bishop of London, 
was, and is, a true information." 

The substance of the information was this: that one Law- 
rence Edwards had a child unchristened, and Mr. Tye, the 
curate, asked him, why his child was not baptized? Edwards 
replied, It should be baptized when he could find one of his 
own religion. 

Mr. Tye told him he had imbibed those notions from some 
busy people, who go about to spread heresy. Edwards ac- 
knowledged he had, telling him, at the same time, if his doc- 
trine was better he would willingly receive it. He then 
produced Allerton, to whom the curate said, if he had instructed 
Edwards, it was against God's commandments to enter into the 
church. On this, Allerton thus addressed the people who were 
present: " O good people, now is fulfilled the saying of the 
priest and prophet Esdras, viz. The fire of a multitude is kin- 
dled against a few ; they have taken away their houses, and 
spoiled their goods. Which of you have not seen this day ? 
Who is here among you that seeth not all these things done 
upon this day? The church unto which they call us is the 
church of Antichrist, a persecuting church, and the church 
militant." 

This was the cause of his being apprehended, and sent to the 
bishop of London. 



RALPH ALLERTON, AND OTHERS. 231 

He was also charged with writing several letters, and other 
papers, which were found on him in prison. He confessed, 
when they were produced, that he had written them, and that 
they were intended to be sent to some persons who were in 
prison, for the sake of the gospel, at Colchester, where they 
were afterwards burnt. 

Allerton was then dismissed, and the examination deferred to 
the afternoon, when several other articles were objected to him ; 
but these being mostly false, he refused to answer to them. He 
granted, indeed, that he disapproved of the mass, and other 
ceremonies, which were contrary to the express word of God. 

When the decree of pope Innocent III. concerning the sacra- 
ment of the altar was read to him by the bishop, he declared he 
regarded it not, nor was it necessary that any man should be- 
lieve it. 

When Bonner asked him what he had to allege why sentence 
of condemnation should not be passed upon him, he briefly an- 
swered, " My lord, you ought not to condemn me as a heretic, 
for I am a good Christian : but do as you have determined, for 
I perceive that right and truth are suppressed, and cannot now 
appear upon earth." 

In consequence of this answer he was condemned as a here- 
tic, and immediately delivered over to the secular power. 

James Awstoo, and Margery his wife, were next examined, 
when the bishop, among other things, asked the former if he 
had been confessed in Lent, and had received the sacrament at 
Easter ? 

Mr. Awstoo replied, he had been confessed by the curate of 
Allhallows Barking, near the Tower of London ; but that he had 
not received the sacrament of the altar, because he detested it 
as an abominable idol. 

The bishop then asked Mrs. Awstoo, if she approved of the 
religion then used in the church of England ? She replied in 
the negative, declaring it to be corrupt and antiscriptural ; and 
that those who conformed to it were influenced rather by fear, 
than by a conviction that it was founded on the word of God. 

Being required by the bishop to go to church, hear mass, and 
pray for the prosperity of the queen, she declared her abhorrence 
of the mass, and that she would not come into any church where 
there were idols. 

The bishop then made use of the most forcible arguments he 
could devise to induce them to recant ; but they both persisted 
in their faith and profession, renouncing all popish doctrines and 
practices ; in consequence of which they received sentence of 



232 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

condemnation, and were delivered into the hands of the sheriff, 
in order for execution. 

Richard Roth, the last person examined, was strongly urged 
by the bishop to acknowledge the seven sacraments, and the 
corporeal presence in the eucharist. But he briefly replied, 
that if those doctrines were taught in the holy scriptures, he 
would believe them ; being otherwise, he must reject them. 

Being examined more particularly concerning the sacrament 
of the altar, and other points, he plainly declared, that in that 
ceremony there was not the very body and blood of Christ ; but 
that it was a dead god, and that the mass was abominable, and 
contrary to God's holy word and will ; from which faith and 
opinion he was determined, through the strength of divine 
grace, never to depart. 

He was afterwards accused of being an encourager of heretics, 
and that he had written letters to certain persons who were burnt 
at Colchester ; the latter of which charges he frankly acknow- 
ledged. 

Being asked his opinion of Ralph Allerton, he answered, that 
he esteemed him a sincere servant of God ; and that if, hereaf- 
ter, at any time, he should be put to death for his faith and reli- 
gion, he believed he would die a martyr for the cause of Christ, 
and the truth of his gospel. 

He was then asked, if he approved of the order and rites of 
the church at that time used in England ? To which he an- 
swered in the negative, declaring that he utterly abhorred them. 
In consequence of this he received sentence of death, and was 
immediately delivered to the sheriff for execution. 

On the 17th of September, 1557, these four steadfast believers 
in Christ were conducted to Islington, (the place appointed for 
their execution,) where they were fastened to two stakes, and 
consumed in one fire. They all behaved in a manner truly 
consistent with their situation, and becoming of the real follow- 
ers of Jesus Christ, cheerfully resigning up their souls in testi- 
mony of the truth of his most holy word. 

MARTYRDOM OF AGNES BONGEOR AND MARGARET THURSTON, AT 

COLCHESTER. 

In a preceding page we have given an account of ten persons 
who suffered martyrdom at Colchester ; two other women, Mar- 
garet Thurston and Agnes Bongeor, were likewise condemned, 
at the same time and place, and for the same cause. But Mar- 
garet Thurston, on the morning that she should have suffered 
with the others, was for that time deferred, by the following 



AGNES BONGEOR AfiD MARGARET THURSTON. 233 

circumstances, which she afterwards related to Joan Cook, a 
fellow-prisoner, a few hours before her death. This woman 
having asked Margaret why she should be reserved, when the 
others suffered ? she answered, " That it was not for any fear of 
death ; but being prepared, as the rest were that suffered the 
same day, she was taken with a great shivering and trembling 
of the flesh ; whereupon, forsaking the company, she went aside 
to pray ; and whilst she was praying, she thought she was lifted 
up by a mighty wind that came round about her, Even at that 
instant came in the jailer and company with him, and whilst 
she turned herself to fetch her psalter, they took the other pris- 
oners and left her alone. Shortly after she was moved out of 
the castle, and put into the town prison, where she continued 
until Friday sevennight after her company was burnt. " That 
day, not two hours before her death, she was brought to the 
castle again, where she told this to the said Joan Cook. 

The other woman, named Agnes Bongeor, who should have 
suffered in like manner with the six that went out of Mote-hall, 
was also kept at that time, because her name was wrongly 
spelled in the writ. 

The following is the Martyrologist's account of the closing 
scenes of this good woman's life : 

The same morning, the second of August, that the said six in 
Mote-hall were called out to go to their martyrdom, Agnes 
Bongeor was also called with them, by the name of Agnes 
Bower. Wherefore the bailiffs, understanding her to be wrong 
named within the writ, commanded the said Agnes Bongeor to 
prison again, and so that day sent her from Mote-hall to the 
castle, where she remained till her death. 

During the time that these aforesaid two good women were 
prisoners, one in the castle, and the other in Mote-hall, God by 
a secret means called the said Margaret Thurston unto his truth 
again ; who having her eyes opened by the working of his Spirit, 
did greatly sorrow and lament her backsliding before, and prom- 
ised faithfully to the Lord, in hope of his mercies, never more 
while she lived to do the like again, but that she would con- 
stantly stand to the confession of the same, against all the 
adversaries of the cross of Christ. After which promise made, 
came iri a short time a writ from London for the burning of 
them, which was accordingly executed the 17th day of Septem- 
ber, in the year aforesaid. 

Now when these aforesaid women were brought to the place 
at Colchester, where they should suffer, they fell down upon 
their knees, and made their humble prayers to God. which 
20* 



2$4 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

being done, they rose and went to the stake joyfully, and were 
immediately chained thereto, and after the fire had encompassed 
them about, they with great joy and glorious triumph gave up 
their souls, spirits, and lives, into the hands of the Lord, under 
whose government and protection, for Christ's sake, we beseech 
him to grant us his holy defence and help for evermore, Amen. 
About the same time, a shoemaker, named John Kurde, was 
burnt at Northampton, and died with the same steadfastness 
and hope as the other martyrs in the same glorious cause. 

MARTYRDOM OF JOHN NOYES, OF LAXEFIELI), IN SUFFOLK. 

About the same time as those persons whose fate we have 
just recorded, suffered John Noyes, and his apprehension and 
death were brought about in the following manner : 

Some bigoted papists, who dwelt in the neighborhood, know- 
ing him. to be a professor of the true faith, and a despiser of the 
mass, and other Romish superstitions, determined to bring him 
to punishment; and accordingly, three of them, named Thomas 
Lovel, Wolfren Dowsing, and Nicholas Stannard, beset his 
house, and he attempting to go out, Nicholas Stannard called 
to him and said, " Whither goest thou ?" to which he replied, 
" To see some of my neighbors." Stannard then said, " Your 
master hath deceived you; you must go with us now." To 
which Noyes answered, " No, but take you heed your master 
deceive not you." And so they took him and carried him be- 
fore the justices the next day. After several matters had been 
alleged against him, he was conducted to a dungeon at Eye, 
where he was confined for some time, and was then carried 
from thence to Norwich, and before the bishop, where he was 
interrogated on the following subjects : 

1. Whether he believed that the ceremonies used in the church 
were good and godly, to stir up men's minds to devotion. 

2. Whether he believed the pope to be supreme head of the 
church here on earth. 

3. Whether he believed the body of our Lord Jesus Christ 
to be in the sacrament of the altar under the forms of bread and 
wine, after the words of consecration. 

To which he replied with great courage, denying the pope's 
supremacy, the use of ceremonies, and Christ's real presence in 
the sacrament. 

Upon this, sentence was read by the bishop against him, in 
the presence of Dr. Dunning, his chancellor, Sir W. Wood- 
house, Sir Thomas Woodhouse, and several other gentlemen. 

Being condemned, he was sent again from Norwich to Eye 



prison; and about the twenty-first day of September, about 
midnight, he was brought from Eye to Laxefield, to be burned ; 
and on the next morning was brought to the stake, where were 
waiting for his coming the aforesaid justice, Mr. Thurston, one 
Mr. Waller, being then under-sheriff, and Mr. Thomas Lovel, 
high constable, as is before expressed; who commanded men to 
make ready all things meet for this sinful purpose. Now the 
fires in most houses of the street were put out, saving that a 
smoke was espied by the said Thomas Lovel, proceeding out 
from the top of a chimney, to which house the sheriff and Gran* 
now his man went, and broke open the door, and thereby got 
fire, and brought the same to the place of execution. When 
John Noyes came to the place where he should be burned, he 
kneeled down, and said the 50th Psalm, with other prayers, and 
they making haste bound him to the stake, and being bound, 
the said John Noyes said, " Fear not them that can kill the 
body, but fear him that can kill both body and soul, and cast it 
into everlasting fire." 

When he saw his sister weeping and making moan for him, 
he told her that she should not weep for him, but weep for her 
sins. 

Then one Nicholas Cadman brought a fagot and set against 
him ; and the said John Noyes took up the fagot and kissed it, 
and said, Blessed be the time that ever I was born to come to this. 

Then he delivered his psalter to the under-sheriff, desiring 
him to be good to his wife and children, and to deliver to her 
that same book ; and the sheriff promised him that he would, 
notwithstanding he never performed his promise. Then the 
said John Noyes said to the people, " They say they can make 
God of a piece of bread; believe them not." 

Then said he, " Good people, bear witness that I do believe 
to be saved by the merits and passion of Jesus Christ, and not 
by mine own deeds." And so the fire was kindled, and burning 
about him, he then said, " Lord, have mercy upon me ! Christ, 
have mercy upon me ! Son of David, have mercy upon me !" 

And so he yielded up his life, and when his body was burned, 
they made a pit to bury the coals and ashes, and amongst the 
same they found one of his feet that was unburned, whole up to 
the ankle, with the hose on, and that they buried with the rest. 

Now while he was burning, there stood by one John Jarvis, 
a servant in the same town, a plain fellow, who said, "Good 
Lord, how the sinews of his arms shrink up !" And there stood 
behind him Grannow and Benet, the sheriff's men, and they told 
their master, that John Jarvis n-aid, " What villanous wretches 



206 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS* 

are these !" And their master ordered them to apprehend him, 
and they took him and pinioned him, and carried him before the 
justice that same day, and the justice did examine him of the 
words aforesaid, but he denied them, and answered that he said 
nothing but this, " Good Lord, how the sinews of his arms 
shrink up !" But for all this the justice did bind his father and 
his master in five pounds apiece, that he should be forthcoming 
at all times. And on the Wednesday following, he was brought 
again before the justices, Mr. Thurston and Mr. Kene, sitting 
at Fresingfield, Hoxton Hundred, and there they did appoint 
and command, that the said John Jarvis should be set in the 
stocks the next market-day, and whipped about the market 
naked. But his master, one William Jarvis, did after crave 
friendship with the constables, and they did not set him in the 
stocks till Sunday morning, and in the afternoon they did whip 
him about the market with a dog- whip, having three cords, and 
so they let him go. 

MARTYRDOM OF CICELY ORMES> AT NORWICH. 

About the 23d of September, shortly after the others above- 
mentioned, Cicely Ormes, wife of Edmund Ormes, suffered at 
Norwich ; she was taken at the death of Simon Miller and 
Elizabeth Cooper, whom we have already mentioned, and her 
offence was, having said that " she would pledge them of the 
same cup that they drank of." For so saying, one Mr. Corbet, 
of Sprowson, near Norwich, sent her to the chancellor. When 
she came before him, he asked her what she said unto the 
sacrament of Christ's body ? And she said, " she did believe 
that it was the sacrament of the body of Christ."—" Yea," said 
the chancellor, " but what is that that the priest holdeth over his 
head ?" She answered him and said, " It is bread : and if you 
make it any better, it is worse." At which words the chancel- 
lor sent her to the bishop's prison, with many threatenings and 
hot words, being in a great rage. 

On the 23d of July she was called before the chancellor again, 
who sat in judgment, with Mr. Bridges and others. The chan- 
cellor offered her, " if she would go to the church and keep her 
sentiments to herself, she should be set at liberty, and believe as 
she would." But she told him " she would not consent to his 
wicked desire therein, do with her what he would : for if she 
should, God would surely plague her." Then the chancellor 
told her, " he had showed more favor to her, than ever he did 
to any, and that he was loth to condemn her, considering she 
was an ignorant, unlearned, and foolish woman." On this she 



CICELY OKMES. 237 

told him, " if he thought her such, he should not be so desirous 
of her sinful flesh, as she would (by God's grace) be content to 
give it in so good a quarrel." He then read the sentence of 
condemnation against her, and delivered her to the care of the 
sheriffs of the city, who immediately carried her to the Guildhall 
in Norwich, where she remained until her death. 

" This Cicely Ormes was a very simple woman, but yet zeal- 
ous in the Lord's cause, being born in East Dereham, and was 
the daughter of one Thomas Haund, tailor. She was taken the 
5th day of July, and did for a twelve-month before she was 
taken recant, but never after was she quiet in conscience, until 
she was utterly driven from all their popery. Between the 
time that she recanted, and that she was taken, she had got a 
letter written to give to the chancellor, to let him know that she 
repented her recantation from the bottom of her heart, and would 
never do the like again while she lived. But before she exhib- 
ited her bill, she was taken and sent to prison as is before said. 
She was burnt the 23d of September, between seven and eight 
in the morning, the two sheriffs being there, and to the number 
of two hundred people. When she came to the stake, she 
kneeled down, and made her prayers to God : that being done, 
she rose up and said, ' Good people, I believe in God the Father, 
God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, three persons and one 
God. 

" ' This do I not, nor will I recant ; but I recant utterly from 
the bottom of my heart the doings of the pope of Rome, and all 
his popish priests I utterly refuse, and never will have to do 
with them again by God's grace. And, good people, I would 
you should not think of me, that I believe to be saved in that I 
offer myself here unto the death of the Lord's cause, but because 
I believe to be saved by the death and passion of Christ ; and 
this my death is and shall be a witness of my faith unto all 
here present. Good people, as many of you that believe as I 
believe, pray for me.' 

u Then she came to the stake, and laid her hands on it, and 
said, ' Welcome the cross of Christ.' Which being done, she 
looked on her hand, and seeing it blacked with the stake, she 
wiped it upon her smock, for she was burnt at the same stake 
that Simon Miller and Elizabeth Cooper were. Then after she 
had touched it with her hand, she came and kissed it, and said, 
* Welcome the sweet cross of Christ,' and so gave herself to be 
bound thereto." After the tormentors had kindled the fire to 
her, she said, ' My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit 
rejoiceth in God my Savior:' and in saying so she set her 



238 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

hands together right against her breast, casting her eyes and 
head upward, and so stood heaving up her hands by little and 
little, till the very sinews of her arms did break asunder, and 
then they fell ; but she yielded up her life unto God, as quietly 
as if she had been in a slumber, or as one feeling no pain ; so 
wonderfully did the Lord work with her ; his name therefore 
be praised for evermere. Amen." 

FURTHER PERSECUTIONS. 

Nearly at the same period as the martyrdoms he have just 
related, many others took place in various parts of the kingdom, 
but the want of authentic records prevents our laying the par- 
ticulars before our readers ; as we are resolved never to impose 
on them by fictitious or doubtful accounts, but to state nothing 
which is not confirmed by the strongest testimony. The fea- 
tures of popery are hideous enough, without the assistance of 
artificial horrors ; why, therefore, need we blacken a monster, 

" Which to be hated, needs but to be seen V 

In the diocese of Chichester, especially, many were con- 
demned and martyred for the true testimony of righteousness, 
among whom we find the following persons named, although 
we have no particulars of their examinations, -&c. : John Fore- 
man, of East Grinstead ; John Warner, of Berne ; Christian 
Grover, of the archdeaconry of Lewes ; Thomas Athoth, priest ; 
Thomas Avington, of Erdingly; Dennis Burgis, of Buxstead; 
Thomas Ravensdale, of Rye ; John Milles, of Hellingley ; 
Nicholas Holden, of Withiam; John Hart, of Withiam ; Mar- 
gery Morice, of Hethfield ; Anne Try, of East Grinstead ; John 
Oseward, of Woodmancote ; Thomas Harland, of Woodman- 
cote ; James Morice, of Hethfield ; Thomas Dougate, of East 
Grinstead ; and John Ashedon, of Katherfield. 

The greatest persecutors against these faithful martyrs were 
these : Christopherson, bishop of Chichester ; Richard Briesley, 
doctor of law, and chancellor of Chichester ; Robert Taylor, 
bachelor of law, his deputy; Thomas Piccard, civilian ; Antho- 
ny Clarke, Albane, and Longdale, bachelors of divinity, &c. 

PERSECUTION AND MARTYRDOM OF JOHN HALLINGDALE, WILLIAM 
SPARROW, AND RICHARD GIBSON. 

Informations having been laid against these three persons, as 
being suspected of heresy, they were appreB ended, and after 
being confined for some time, were, at length, brought together 
to be examined before bishop Bonner. 



REV. JOHN ROUGH. 239 

On the 18th of November, 1557, these three faithful servants 
of Christ were conducted, under a guard, to Smithfield, where 
they were all fastened to one stake. After they had, for some 
time, fervently prayed to God to enable them to endure the 
fiery trial, the fagots were lighted, and they all cheerfully 
resigned their souls into the hands of their heavenly Father, 
trusting that, as they had borne the cross for his sake, he would 
reward them with " a crown of glory which fadeth not away." 

MARTYRDOMS OF THE REV. JOHN ROUGH, AND OF MARGARET 
MAKING. 

Mr. John Rough was a native of Scotland, the son of reputa- 
ble and pious parents. Being deprived of his right of inherit- 
ance to certain lands by some of his kindred, he was so irritated 
that, though only seventeen years of age, he entered himself a 
member of the order of Black Friars, at Stirling, in Scotland. 

Here he continued upwards of sixteen years, when the earl 
of Arran, (afterwards duke of Hamilton,) then regent of Scot- 
land, having a partiality for him, applied to the archbishop of 
St. Andrew's to dispense with his professed order, that he might 
serve him as his chaplain. 

The archbishop readily granting the request of the regent, 
Mr. Rough was disengaged from his monastic order, and con- 
tinued chaplain to his patron about a year ; when it pleased 
God to open his eyes, and give him some knowledge of the 
truth of the gospel. 

At this time the earl sent him to preach in the county of Ayr, 
where he continued about four years, during which time he 
discharged the duties of his office with the strictest diligence. 

On the death of the cardinal of Scotland, he was sent for to 
officiate at St. Andrew's, for which he had a pension of twenty 
pounds per annum allowed him by king Henry VIII. 

After being some time in this situation, he began to abhor the 
idolatry and superstition of his own country; and when he 
found that, on trie accession of Edward VI., there was free pos- 
session of the gospel in England, he left St. x\ndrew's, and went 
first to Carlisle, and afterwards waited on the duke of Somerset, 
then protector, by whom he was appointed preacher, with an 
annual allowance of twenty pounds, to serve in Carlisle, Ber- 
wick, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 

A short time after this he married, and the archbishop of 
York gave him a benefice near the town of Kingston-upon- 
Hull, which he enjoyed till the death of the king. 

On the accession of queen Mary, when the true religion was 



240 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

superseded by the false, and persecution took place in all parts 
of the kingdom, Mr. Rough fled with his wife into the Low 
Countries, and took up his residence at a place called Norden. 
Here he maintained himself by knitting and selling caps and 
hose, till the month of October, 1557, when, wanting yarn and 
other necessaries for his trade, he embarked for England, and 
arrived in London on the 10th of November following. 

Soon after his arrival, he was informed that there was a pri- 
vate congregation of religious people in a certain part of the city, 
upon which he joined them, and was elected their minister. 

In this office he continued some time, till, at the instigation 
of Roger Serjeant, a hypocrite and false brother, on the 13th 
of December, he, together with one Cuthbert Simson, deacon of 
the aforesaid congregation, were apprehended by the vice-cham- 
berlain of the queen's household, at the Saracen's Head, in Isl- 
ington, where the congregation had assembled for the purpose 
of performing their usual worship; although, to avoid suspicion, 
it had been given out that their meeting was to hear a play. 

Mr. Rough and Mr. Simson were both conducted, by the 
vice-chamberlain, to the queen's council, by whom they were 
charged with assembling to celebrate the communion, or Lord's 
supper. After a long examination, Simson was, for the present, 
dismissed, but Rough was sent prisoner to Newgate. 

On the 20th of December he was brought to the consistory 
court at St. Paul's, before Bonner, bishop of London, the bishop 
of St. David's, Fecknam, abbot of Westminster, and others, in 
order to undergo a final examination. 

After various methods had been used by the court to persuade 
him to recant, without effect, Bonner read the articles, with his 
answers : he then charged him with marrying, after having 
received priestly orders ; and that he had refused to consent to 
the Latin service then used in the church. 

Mr. Rough answered, their orders were of no effect, and that 
the children he had by his wife were legitimate. With respect 
to the Latin service then used, he said, he utterly detested it, 
and that, were he to live as long as Methuselah, he would never 
go to church to hear the abominable mass. 

In consequence of this declaration the bishop proceeded to the 
ceremony of degradation ; after which he read the sentence of 
condemnation, and Mr. Rough being delivered to the sheriff, 
was by him reconducted to Newgate, there to remain till the 
time appointed for his execution. 



MARGARET MAKING. 241 



EXAMINATION OF MARGARET MARIXG. 

This woman belonged to a private congregation in London, 
where Mr. Rough used to officiate. She was suspected by him, 
and some others, of not being sincere in the religion she profes- 
sed ; but the event showed that their suspicions were ill-founded. 

An information being laid against her before the bishop of 
London, he sent an officer to her house near Mark-lane, in the 
city, to apprehend her ; which being done, she was immediately 
brought before his lordship, who, after a short examination, sent 
her to Newgate. 

On the 18th of December she was again brought before the 
bishop, at his palace in London, in order to undergo a thorough 
examination, relative to her religious principles. The usual 
articles being exhibited against her, she answered each respect- 
ively as follows. 

1. That there is here on earth a Catholic church, and there is 
the true faith of Christ observed and kept in the same church. 

2. That there are only two sacraments in the church, namely, 
the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, and the sacra- 
ment of baptism. 

3. That she was baptized in the faith and belief of the said 
church, renouncing there, by her godfathers and godmothers, 
the devil and all his works. 

4. That when she came to the age of fourteen years, she did 
not know what her true belief was, because she was not then of 
discretion to understand the same, neither yet was taught it. 

5. That she had not gone from the Catholic faith at any 
time ; but she said that the mass was abominable in the sight 
of God, and all true Christian people. 

6. Concerning the sacrament of the altar, she said, she be- 
lieved there was no such sacrament in the Catholic church: 
that she utterly abhorred the authority of the bishop of Rome, 
with all the religion observed in his antichristian church. 

7. That she had refused to come to her parish church, be- 
cause the true religion was not then used in the same ; and that 
she had not come into the church for the space of one year and 
three quarters, neither did mean to come any more to the same, 
in these idolatrous days. 

8. She acknowledged that she was apprehended, and brought 
before the bishop of London. 

These answers being registered by the bishop's official, she 
was, for the present, remanded to prison. 

On the 20th of December she was again brought before the 
21 



242 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

bishop at his consistory court, where her articles and answers 
were again read to her; after which they asked her if she 
would stand to the same as they were registered ? She an- 
swered, that she would stand to the same to her death ; " for 
the very angels in heaven," said she, " laugh you to scorn, to 
see the abomination that you use in the church." 

The bishop then used various arguments to prevail on her to 
recant ; but finding them all ineffectual, he read the sentence 
of condemnation, and she was delivered to the sheriff for execu- 
tion, who reconducted her to Newgate. 

Two days after this, on the 22d of December, 1557, she, with 
her fellow-martyr John Rough, were conducted, by the proper 
officers, to Smithfield, where they were both fastened to one 
stake, and burnt in the same fire. They both behaved them- 
selves with Christian fortitude, and cheerfully gave up their 
lives in testimony of the truth of that gospel, which was given 
to man by him from whom they hoped to receive an eternal 
reward in his heavenly kingdom. 

MARTYRDOM OF CTJTHBERT SIMSON, HUGH FOX, AND JOHN DA- 

VENISH. 

These three persons were apprehended together at Islington, 
at the same time with Mr. Rough, and being brought before 
the council, were committed to different prisons. 

Cuthbert Simson, who was deacon of the same congregation 
of which Mr. Rough was pastor, was committed prisoner to the 
Tower, where he was examined by the recorder of London, 
and one Mr. Cholmley, who commanded him to declare what 
persons he had summoned to come to the English service ; 
but he peremptorily told them he would not comply with their 
request. 

They then ordered him to be put to the rack, on which he 
lay, in great agonies, upwards of three hours. While he was 
in the most excruciating torment, they asked him the same 
question as they had done before, and he made them the same 
answer. He was then released from the rack, and conducted 
to the room appointed for his confinement. 

On the Sunday following he was again brought to the room in 
which he had been racked, when the recorder of London, and the 
lieutenant of the Tower, once more desired him to confess ; but 
he still refused, saying, he was determined not to satisfy them. 

They then tied his two fore-fingers together, with a small 
arrow between them : this done, they drew the arrow back- 
ward and forward so quick, that the blood followed, and the 



3UTHBERT S1MS0W, AND OTHERS. 243 

arrow broke ; after which they racked him twice more, and 
then again conducted him to his dungeon. 

About ten days after this the lieutenant again asked him if 
he would confess what had been repeatedly asked by himself, 
and the recorder; to which Mr. Simson answered, that he 
would say no more than he had said. 

On the 19th of March he was taken before the bishop of 
London for examination, when the following articles were ex- 
hibited against him : 

1. That thou Cuthbert Simson art, at this present, abiding 
within the city and diocese of London, and not out of the juris- 
diction of the bishop of London. 

2. That thou, within the city and diocese of London, hast 
uttered many times, and spoken deliberately, the words and 
sentences following, viz. : That though thy parents and ances- 
tors, kinsfolks and friends, yea, and also thyself, before the time 
of the late schism here in this realm of England, have thought, 
and thoughtest, that the faith and religion observed in times 
past here in this realm of England, w r as a true faith, and the 
religion of Christ, in all points and articles, though in the church 
it was set forth in the Latin tongue, and not in English ; yet 
thou believest, and sayest, that the faith and religion now used 
commonly in this realm, and not in English, but in the Latin 
tongue, is not the true faith and religion of Christ, but contrary 
and expressly against it. 

3. That thou, within the said city and diocese of London, 
hast willingly, wittingly, and contemptuously, done and spoken 
against the rites and ceremonies, commonly used here through 
the whole realm, and observed generally in the church of 
England. 

4. That thou hast thought and believed certainly, and so 
within the diocese of London hast affirmed, and spoken deliber- 
ately, that there be not in the Catholic church seven sacraments, 
nor of that virtue and efficacy as is commonly believed in the 
church of England they are. 

5. That thou hast likewise thought and believed, yea, and 
hast so, .within the city and diocese of London, spoken, and 
deliberately affirmed, that in the sacrament of the altar there is 
not really, substantially, and truly, the very body and blood of 
our Savior Jesus Christ. 

6. That thou hast been, and to thy power art, at this present, 
a favorer of all those that either have been here in this realm, 
heretofore, called heretics, or else condemned by the ecclesias- 
tical judges as such. 



244 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

7. That thou, contrary to the order of this realm of England, 
and contrary to the usage of the holy church of this realm of 
England, hast, at sundry times and places, within the city and 
diocese of London, been at assemblies and conventicles, where 
there was a multitude of people gathered together to hear the 
English service said, which was set forth in the late years of 
king Edward VI., and also to hear and have communion both 
read, and the communion ministered both to the said multitude, 
and also to thyself; and that thou hast thought, and so thinketh, 
and hast spoken, that the said English service, and communion- 
book, and all things contained in either of them, were good and 
laudable; and for such thou didst, and dost allow, and approve 
either of them at this present. 

The first six of these articles Mr. Simson acknowledged to 
be true in every part ; but to the seventh he would not make 
any answer, saying, he was not bound so to do. 

Hugh Fox and John Davenish were next examined ; and the 
usual articles being administered to them they answered as 
follows : 

To the first, concerning the Catholic church, they answered, 
that there was such a church. But John Davenish added, that 
" the true church was grounded on the prophets and apostles, 
Christ being the head corner-stone ; and in that church there 
was the true faith and religion of Christ.' , 

To the second article they replied, that in Christ's Catholic 
church there were but two sacraments, namely, baptism, and 
the Lord's supper. 

To the third they answered affirmatively, that they were 
baptized in the faith of the Catholic church. 

They likewise answered affirmatively to the fourth article, 
and said that they continued in the said faith till they arrived at 
the age of fourteen years, without having any dislike to the same. 

To the fifth article they answered, that they had spoken 
against the mass, the sacrament of the altar, and likewise 
against the authority of the see of Eome, and that they would 
do so as long as they lived. 

The sixth article they acknowledged to be true. 

To the seventh they answered affirmatively, that they had, and 
did, dislike the mass and sacrament of the altar, and thereupon 
refused to come to their parish church. John Davenish added, 
that " the sacrament of the altar, as then used, was no sacrament 
at all." 

Their respective answers being written down, were afterwards 
read to them ; when they persisting, and continuing steadfast in 



THOMAS HUDSON, AND OTHERS. 245 * 

theii* faith and opinions, the bishop pronounced the definitive 
sentence, and they were all delivered over to the secular power. 

While Cuthbert Simson was in the consistory court, bishop 
Bonner took particular notice of him to the people. " Ye see," 
said he, " this man, what a personable man he is ; and I tell 
you, that if he were not a heretic, he is a man of the greatest 
patience that ever came before me. He hath been twice racked 
in one day in the Tower, and also in my house he hath felt 
much sorrow, and yet I never saw his patience broken." 

On the 28th of March, 1558, these three steadfast believers in 
Christ were conducted by the sheriffs, and their officers, to 
Smithfield, where they were all fastened to one stake, and burnt 
in the same fire. They behaved with truly Christian fortitude to 
the last, praising and glorifying God, that he had enabled them 
to go through the horrid punishment allotted them, for no other 
reason but their strict adherence to the truth of his most holy 
gospel. 

About this time one William Nicoll, of Haverford-West, in 
Pembrokeshire, was apprehended for speaking disrespectfully 
of the church of Rome ; and being condemned as a heretic, 
was burnt in the above town, on the 9th of April, 1558. 

MARTYRDOMS OF WILLIAM SEAMAN, THOMAS CARMAN, AND THOMAS 

HUDSON. 

William Seaman was a husbandman, of a religious turn of 
mind, and a strict professor of the truth of the gospel. He was 
betrayed into the hands of the popish emissaries by the perfidy 
of a neighbor; and being taken before Sir John Tyrrel for 
examination, was asked, why he would not go to mass, receive 
the sacrament, and conform himself to the other ceremonies of 
the church. 

In answer to this, Seaman said, that the sacrament then used 
was an idol, that the mass was abominable, and that the cere- 
monies of the Romish church were superstitious, and full of 
absurdities ; and that, for these reasons, he would not conform 
to the same. 

These answers highly offending Sir John Tyrrel, he commit- 
ted Seaman to prison ; and the next day he was sent to Dr. 
Hopton, bishop of the diocese, who, after a short examination, 
passed sentence of condemnation on him, and he was delivered 
over to the secular power in order for execution. 

Thomas Carman, who had been apprehended a short time 
before, was brought before the bishop, for examination, on the 
same day ; when asserting the cause of Christ with no less 
21* 



246 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

warmth than the former, he was consigned to the same inhu* 
man and merciless punishment. 

Thomas Hudson was by trade a glover, and lived at the town 
of Ailesham, in Norfolk. Though destitute of any education 
in his younger years, yet, by his diligence and love of the gos- 
pel, as preached in the days of king Edward, he had learned to 
read, became well versed in the sacred book of God, and 
grounded in the faith once delivered to the saints. 

Disapproving the doctrines and practices called religion^ un- 
der the reign of queen Mary, he absented himself from his 
native place, went into Suffolk, and there continued traveling 
from one part to another, as occasion offered. 

At length, desirous of seeing his wife and children, he re* 
turned home, but finding his continuance there would be dan- 
gerous, he devised a scheme with his wife, to make him a hiding 
place among his fagots, where he remained for a long space of 
time, praying continually; his wife, at the same time, carefully 
ministering to him such necessaries as he wanted. 

During his retirement, the vicar of the town, who was one 
of the bishop's commissaries, inquired of his wife concerning her 
husband ; and on her denying that she knew any thing of him, 
threatened to burn her, because she would not discover the 
retreat of a heretic. 

When Hudson was informed of their great desire to appre- 
hend him, his zeal for the glory of God, and the honor of his 
Redeemer, increased daily, and he continued reading and 
singing psalms, while many people resorted to him, to hear his 
exhortations, and join with him in prayer. 

At length he came out of his retreat, walked about the town, 
exclaiming against the mass, and all its superstitions and follies ; 
and when he arrived at his own house, he daily and repeatedly 
read and sung psalms, in which he was joined by many other 
faithful adherents to the truth of the gospel. 

Information of this being given to a magistrate by one of his 
neighbors, two constables were sent to apprehend him. As soon 
as they entered his house, he said, " Now mine hour is come ; 
welcome, friends, welcome ; you be they that shall lead me to 
life in Christ. I thank God for it, and beg that the Lord will 
prepare me for the glorious work for his mercy's sake." 

The constables then took him to Berry, the commissary, who 
was vicar of the town. He asked him various questions con- 
cerning his religious tenets ; but finding all he could say would 
not stagger his faith in a single point, he sent him to the bishop, 
who was then at Norwich, and before whom he appeared with- 
out the the least sign of timidity. 



THOMAS HUDSON, AND OTHERS. 247 

The bishop asked him a great number of questions, to all 
which he answered as became a true follower of Christ; and, 
though very illiterate, his arguments were exceedingly just and 
forcible. At length the bishop passed sentence of condemnation 
on him, and he was immediately conducted to prison, where, 
during his confinement, he spent his time in reading and calling 
on the name of the Lord. 

On the 19th of May, 1558, these three steadfast believers in 
Christ were conducted to the place appointed for their execution, 
called Lollards' Pit, without Bishop's-gate, at Norwich. As 
soon as they arrived at the appointed spot, they all knelt 
down, and offered up their prayers to God, to enable them 
to undergo, with Christian fortitude, the fiery trial that awaited 
them. 

After prayers they arose and went to the stake, to which they 
were all fastened by a chain, When they had prayed for some 
time and the necessary preparations were made for their deaths, 
Thomas Hudson slipped from under the chain, and came for- 
ward. This circumstance greatly alarmed the spectators, many 
of whom were apprehensive that he intended to recant, while 
others attributed it to his desire of taking leave of his parents, 
who were present, and receiving their blessing before his final 
departure. 

His two companions at the stake were no less alarmed at his 
conduct than the spectators. They used their utmost efforts to 
comfort and encourage him, and exhorted him, in the most 
strenuous manner, to be of good cheer, and cheerfully resign 
himself to the will of his Kedeemer. 

But, alas ! he felt more in his heart than they could con- 
ceive ; for he was encompassed with a distinguished gfrief of 
mind, not from the fear of death, but for want of inward experi- 
ence of the love of his Savior. Being, therefore, very anxious 
to obtain this conquest, he fell on his knees, and fervently 
prayed to God, who, according to his tender mercies, soon sent 
him comfort. He then arose in an ecstasy of joy, as a man 
changed from death unto life, saying, " Now, I .thank God, I 
am strong, and care not what man can do unto me." 

Immediately after this he returned to his companions, at the 
stake, with the most cheerful countenance ; in a short time after 
which the fagots were lighted, and they all resigned their souls 
into the hands of that God who had protected and supported 
them under their sufferings for his name's sake. 



248 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS- 



MARTYRDOM OF WILLIAM HARRIS, RICHARD DAY, AND CHRISTIAN 

GEORGE. 

In the same month of May, William Harris, Richard Day, 
and a woman named Christian George, suffered at Colchester, 
and there joyfully and fervently made their prayers to God. 

Being chained to the stake, with the fire flaming fiercely 
round about them, they, like constant Christians, triumphantly 
praised God within the same, and offered up their bodies a 
lively sacrifice unto his holy Majesty, in whose habitation they 
have now their everlasting tabernacles. 

The husband of Christian George had already had one wife 
burnt, whose name was Agnes George, and of whom we have 
already given an account. After the death of Christian, he 
married another honest, godly woman, with whom he was at 
last apprehended, and laid in prison, where they remained till 
the death of queen Mary, and at last were delivered by queen 
Elizabeth. 

PERSECUTION AND SUFFERINGS OF WILLIAM FETTY, A BOY, WHO WAS 
BARBAROUSLY SCOURGED TO DEATH. 

If dying innocently in the cause of Christ, and his religion, 
constitute a martyr, no one can be better entitled to a place in 
our catalogue than this youth, who was unmercifully scourged 
to death, at the instigation of the relentless and cruel Bonner. 

Among those who were persecuted and imprisoned for the 
profession of Christ's gospel, and yet delivered by the providence 
of God, was John Petty, the father of this lad. He had been 
accused, by his own wife, to the minister of the parish in which 
he lived, of absenting himself from church, the sacrament of the 
altar, confession, and other ceremonies ; for which he was ap- 
prehended by one of the officers employed for that purpose. 

Immediately after his apprehension his wife grew delirious, 
in consequence of which, though they were regardless of him, 
pity towards that wicked woman wrought upon the magistrates, 
so that, for the preservation and support of her and her children, 
they discharged him, with an order that he should continue in 
his own house. 

Notwithstanding the ingratitude of his wife, he provided for 
her in such a manner, that within three weeks, she had, in some 
measure, recovered her senses. But such was the disposition 
of this woman, that, notwithstanding this instance of his conju- 
gal affection, she laid a second information against him; upon 
which he was apprehended, and carried before Sir John Mor- 



wiLHAfl fetty. 249 

daunt, one of the queen's commissioners, by whom, after exam- 
ination, he was sent to Lollards' Tower, 5 * where he was put 
into the stocks, and had a dish of water set by him, with a 
stone in it, to point out to him that it was the chief sustenance 
he might expect to receive. 

After he had been in prison for fifteen days, (the greatest part 
of which time he was kept in the stocks, sometimes by one leg, 
and sometimes by the other,) William Fetty, one of his sons, 
came to the bishop's palace, in order to obtain permission to see 
him. 

When he arrived there, one of the bishop's chaplains asked 
him his business; the boy replied, he wanted to see his father, 
at the same time shedding tears, and expressing the greatest 
unhappiness. The chaplain asked who was his father; and 
when the boy told him, he pointed towards Lollards' Tower, 
intimating that he was there confined. 

The chaplain then told him his father was a heretic ; to 
which the boy (who was of a bold and forward spirit, and had 
been instructed by his father in the reformed religion) answered, 
11 My father is no heretic; but you have Balaam's mark." 

On this the incensed priest took the boy by the hand, and 
dragged him to a large room in the palace, where, after stripping 
htm, he scourged him in the most severe and unmerciful man- 
ner; after which he ordered one of his servants to cany him in 
his shirt to his father, the blood running down to his heels. 

As soon as the child saw his father, he fell on his knees, and 
craved his blessing. The poor man, beholding his son in so 
dreadful a situation, exclaimed, with great grief, " Alas ! who 

* Lollards' Tower, which we have had frequent occasion ro mention 
in the course of this volume, was a large, detached room, belonging to 
bishop Bonner's palace, in London, and formed a prison of the most 
gloomy nature. It was set apart for the punishment of Protestants (for- 
merly called Lollards) who were brought before him on an accusation 
of heresy, and who were here subjected to various tortures, at the discre- 
tion of that bigoted and merciless tyrant. The most common punishment 
inflicted was. setting them in the stocks, in which some were fastened by 
the hands, others by the feet. They were, in general, permitted to sit on 
a stool ; but, to increase their punishment, some were deprived of that 
indulgence, so that, lying with their backs on the ground, their situation 
was exceedingly painful. In this dungeon, and under these tortures, 
they were kept, some for several days, others for weeks, without any 
o her sustenance than bread and water ; and, to aggravate their suffer- 
ings, they were prohibited from being seen by their relations or friends. 
Many of those who had tender constitutions died under these inhuman 
inflictions ; but those who were otherwise, survived to execrate the name 
of their barbarous persecutor. 



250 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS 

hath thus cruelly treated you ?" The boy replied, " Seeking to 
find you out, a priest with Balaam's mark took me into the 
bishop's house, and treated me in the manner you see." 

The servant then seized the boy with great wrath, and drag- 
ging him from his father, took him back to the place where he 
had been scourged by the priest. Here he was kept three 
days, in the course of which his former punishment was several 
times repeated, though not in so severe a manner as before. 

At the expiration of that time, Bonner, in order to make 
some atonement for this cruel treatment of the boy, and to 
appease the father, determined to release them both. He, 
therefore, ordered the latter to be brought before him, in his 
bed-chamber, early in the morning. 

When the poor man came before the bishop, he said, " God 
be here, and peace." To which the bishop replied, " That is 
neither God speed, nor good-morrow." 

One of the bishop's chaplains standing by, reviled Fetty for 
the speech he had made ; when he, after looking about, and 
spying a string of black beads, and a small crucifix, said, " As 
Christ is here handled, so you deal with Christ's chosen people." 

The bishop was so enraged at this, that he called him a vile 
heretic, and said, " I will burn thee, or I will spend all that I 
possess." However, in a little time his passion cooled, and 
thinking of the consequences that might arise from scourging 
the child, he ordered them both to be discharged. 

The father immediately went home with his son ; but the 
poor boy, from an extraordinary effusion of blood, and a morti- 
fication which ensued, died a few days after, to the great grief 
of his persecuted and indulgent parent. 

The old man remained without further persecution during the 
residue of his life, often praising God for delivering him out of 
the hands of his enemies, and expressing the deep sense he had 
of the divine protection. 

MARTYRDOMS OF ROBERT MILLS, STEPHEN COTTON, ROBERT dlNES, 
STEPHEN WIGHT, JOHN SLADE, AND WILLIAM PIKES. 

These six men were apprehended, with several others, in a 
close near Islington, where they had assembled to pay their 
devotions to their Maker ; and being taken before a magistrate, 
were committed to prison as heretics. 

After they had been all examined, they were conducted to 
prison, but ordered to appear on the 11th of July at the consis- 
tory court at St. Paul's. Accordingly, on that day, they were 
brought before the bishop and his chancellor, by the latter of 



HENRY POND, AND OTHERS- 251 

whom they were asked if they would turn from their opinions 
against the holy mother church ; and if not, whether they could 
show cause why sentence of condemnation should not be pro- 
nounced against them. To this they all answered, that they 
would not depart from the truth, nor any part of the same, on 
any conditions whatsoever. 

The chancellor then dismissed them, but ordered that they 
should appear again before him the next day in the afternoon, 
to hear their definitive sentence pronounced, agreeably to the 
ecclesiastical law then in force. 

They were accordingly brought at the time appointed, when 
the chancellor sat as judge, accompanied by Sir Edward Hast- 
ings and Sir Thomas Cornwallis. The chancellor used his 
utmost endeavors to prevail on them to recant, but all proved 
ineffectual. He therefore read the sentence of condemnation, 
and they were delivered over to the sheriffs, who conducted 
them to prison, in order for execution. 

The chancellor, having condemned these six innocent per- 
sons, sent a certificate of their condemnation to the lord chancel- 
lor's office, from whence, the next day, a writ was issued for 
their being burnt at Brentford. 

On the 14th of July, 1558, they were conducted, by the sher- 
iffs and their attendants, from Newgate to the place appointed 
for their execution. As soon as they arrived at the fatal spot, 
they all knelt down, and, for some time, prayed in the most fer- 
vent manner. After this they arose, and undressing themselves, 
went cheerfully to the stakes, of which there were three, though 
all were consumed in one fire. Being bound to the stakes, and 
the fagots being lighted, they all calmly and joyfully yielded up 
their souls to that God, for whose gospel they suffered, and 
whose heavenly mansions they were in hopes of inheriting. 

MARTYRDOMS OF HENRY POND, RAINHOLD EASTLAND, ROBERT SOU- 
THAM, MATTHEW RICARBY, JOHN FLOYD, JOHN HOLIDAY, AND ROGER 
HOLLAND. 

A few days after the execution of the before-mentioned six 
martyrs at Brentford, seven others, who were apprehended with 
them at the same time and place, were burnt in Smithfield. 
Their names we have given above. 

SCOURGING OF THOMAS HINSHAW, BY BONNER. 

When bishop Bonner found that his examinations, persua- 
sions, threats, and imprisonments, were to no purpose with 
Thomas Hinshaw, one of those who had been apprehended at 



252 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS, 

Islington,. he took him to Fulham, where, immediately after his 
coming, he was set in the stocks, remaining there all the first 
niofht, with no other refreshment than bread and water. 

The next morning the bishop came and examined him him- 
self, and perceiving no yielding in his mind, he sent Mr. Harps- 
field to talk with him ; who, after a long dispute, at last fell into 
a passion, calling Hinshaw " peevish boy," and asking him 
" whether he thought he went about to damn his soul, or no ?" 
&c. To all this Hinshaw answered, " That he was persuaded 
that they labored to maintain their dark and devilish kingdom, 
and not for any love of truth." Harpsfleld, being greatly in- 
censed, told the bishop of this ; who was thereat in as great a 
rage as himself, and, although scarce able to speak for anger, 
cried out, " Dost thou answer my archdeacon so, thou naughty 
boy ? I shall handle thee well enough, be assured." He then 
sent for a couple of rods, and causing Hinshaw to kneel against 
a long bench in an arbor in his garden, severely scourged him 
with his own hands, till he was compelled to desist from fatigue. 

After this scourging, Hinshaw was several times examined; 
and at last being brought before the bishop in his chapel at 
Fulham, articles were exhibited against him, which the young 
man denied, and would not affirm, or consent to any of their 
interrogatories. 

Being remanded to prison, about a fortnight after he fell sick 
of an ague, whereupon he was delivered, after much entreaty, 
to his master, Martin Pugson, in St. Paul's church-yard ; for 
the bishop thought he w r as more likely to die than to live ; in- 
deed, his sickness continued a twelvemonth or more, so that in 
the mean time queen Mary died. He shortly after recovered 
his health, and thus escaped the death designed for him by the 
persecutors. 

SCOURGING OF JOHN WILLES, BY BONNER. 

We have an account of another person who was also scourged 
by Bonner; he was named John Willes, u a right faithful and 
true honest man, in all his dealings and conditions." He had 
been apprehended at Islington, with the Company before men- 
tioned, and being committed to the Coal-house, with Thomas 
Hinshaw, remained one night there in the storks. 

The account then goes on to state, that " from the Coal-house 
he was sent to Fulham, where he, with the said Hinshaw, re- 
mained eight or ten days in the stocks ; during which time he 
sustained divers conflicts with the said Bonner, who had him 
often in examination, urging him, and, with a stiek which he 



JOHN WILLES. 253 

had in his hand, often rapping him on the head, and flirting 
him under the chin, and on the ears, saying he looked down 
like a thief. Moreover, after he had essayed all manner of 
ways to make him recant, and could not, at length taking him 
to his orchard, there, within a little arbor, with his own hands 
beat him first with a willow rod, and that being worn well nigh 
to the stumps, he called for a birch rod, which a lad brought out 
of his chamber. The cause why he so beat him was this : 
Bonner asked him when he had crept to the cross. He an- 
swered, Not since he came to years of discretion, neither would, 
though he should be torn by wild horses. Then Bonner desired 
him to make a cross on his forehead, which he refused to do. 
Whereupon he had him immediately to his orchard, and there 
calling for rods, showed his cruelty upon him, as he had done 
upon Thomas Hinshaw. 

" This done, he had him immediately to the parish church of 
Fulham, with the said Thomas Hinshaw, and Kobert Willes ; 
to whom there, being severally called before him, he ministered 
certain articles, asking if he would subscribe to the same. To 
which he made his answer according to his conscience, de- 
nying, them all, except one article, which was concerning king 
Edward's service in English. Shortly after this beating, Bonner 
sent a certain old priest, lately come from Rome, to him in pris- 
on, to conjure out the evil spirit from him, who laying his hand 
upon his head, began, with certain words pronounced over him, 
to conjure as he had been wont before to do. Willes marvelling 
at what the old man was about, said, I trust no evil spirit is in 
me ; and laughed him to scorn. 

" As this John Willes was divers times called before Bonner, 
so much communication passed between them as is too tedious 
to recite. It is enough to make the reader laugh to see the 
blind and unsavory reasons with which that bishop endeavored 
to delude the ignorant ; some of which were in the following 
manner : Bonner going about to persuade Willes not to meddle 
with matters of Scripture, but rather to believe other men's 
teaching, who had more skill in the same, asked him first if he 
did believe the Scripture : Yea, said he, that I do. Then 
(quoth the bishop) St. Paul saith, If the man sleep, the woman 
is at liberty to go to another man. If thou wert asleep having 
a wife, wouldst thou be content that thy wife should take to 
another man ? And yet this is the Scripture. 

" Also, if thou wilt believe Luther, Zuinglius, and such, then 
thou canst not go right ; but if thou wilt believe me, &c. thou 
canst not err ; and if thou shouldst err, vet thou art in no dan*- 
22 



254 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS, 

ger, thy blood should be required at our hands. As if thou 
shouldst go to a far country, and meet with a fatherly man, as 
I am, (these were his words,) and ask the way to the city, and 
he should say, This way, and thou wilt not believe him, but 
follow Luther, and other heretics of late days, and go to a con- 
trary way ; how wilt thou come to the place thou askest for ? 
So if thou wilt not believe me, but follow the leading of other 
heretics, thou shalt be brought to destruction, and burn both 
body and soul. 

" As truly as thou seest the bodies of them in Smithfield 
burnt, so truly their souls do burn in hell, because they err 
from the true church. 

" Oft-times speaking to the said John Willes, he would say, 
They call me bloody Bonner. A vengeance on you all ! I 
would fain be rid of yoif, but you have a delight in burning. 
But if I might have my will, I would sew up your mouths, and 
put you in sacks, and drown you. 

" The same day that he was delivered, Bonner came to the 
stocks where he lay, and asked him how he liked his lodging, 
and his fare. 

" Well, (said Willes,) if it would please God, I might have a 
little straw to lie or sit upon. 

" Then (said Bonner) thou wilt show no token of a Christian 
man. And upon this his wife came in unknown to him, being 
very great with child, every hour expecting her labor, and en- 
treated the bishop for her husband, saying, that she would not 
go from thence, but that she would there stay, and be delivered 
in the bishop's house, unless she had her husband with her. 
How sayest thou, (quoth Bonner to Willes,) if thy wife miscar- 
ry, or thy child, or children, if she be with one or two, should 
perish, the blood of them would he require at thy hands. Then 
to this agreement he came, that she should hire a bed in the 
town of Fulham, and her husband should go home with her the 
morrow after, upon this condition, that his kinsman there 
present (one Robert Rouse) should bring the said Willes to his 
house at St. Paul's the next day. 

" To which Willes would not agree, but insisted upon going 
then. At length, his wife being importunate for her husband, 
and Bonner seeing she would not stir without him, fearing 
belike the rumor that might come upon his house thereby, and 
also fearing probably to be troubled with a lying-in woman, 
bade Willes make a cross, and say, In nomine Patris, et Filii, 
et Spiritus Sancti, Amen. 

" Then Willes began to say, In the name of the Father, and 



RICHARD YEOMAN. 255 

of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen. No, no, (saith Bon- 
ner,) say it me in Latin. Willes understanding the matter of 
that Latin to be good, said the same, and so went home with 
his wife, his aforesaid kinsman being charged to bring him the 
next day to St. Paul's ; else, said Bonner, if thou dost not bring 
him, thou art a heretic as well as he. Notwithstanding, the 
charge being no greater, his kinsman did not bring him, but he 
of his own accord came to the bishop within a few days after, 
where he put to him a certain writing in Latin, to subscribe 
unto, containing, as it seemed to him, no great matter, that he 
needed greatly to stick at, although, what the bill was, he could 
not certainly tell : so he subscribed to the bill and returned 
home," 

HISTORY OF RICHARD YEOMAN. 

u Richard Yeoman, a devout old man, was Dr. Taylor's cu- 
rate, at Hadley, and well versed in the Scriptures, and giving 
godly exhortations to the people : with him Dr. Taylor left his 
cure at his departure. But as soon as Mr. Newall had gotten 
the benefice, he put out Mr. Yeoman, and set in a popish curate 
to maintain and continue their Romish religion, which now they 
thought fully established. Then he wandered from place to 
place, exhorting all men to stand faithfully to God's word, ear- 
nestly to give themselves unto prayer, with patience to bear the 
cross now laid upon them for their trial, with boldness to con- 
fess the truth before their adversaries, and with an undoubted 
hope to wait for the crown and reward of eternal felicity. But 
when he perceived his adversaries to lie in wait for him, he 
went into Kent, and with a little packet of laces, pins and points, 
and such like things, and selling them, by that shift subsisted 
himself, his wife and children. 

"At last justice Moyle, of Kent, took Mr. Yeoman and set 
him in the stocks a day and a night, but having no evident 
matter to charge him with, he let him go again. So he came 
secretly again to Hadley, and tarried with his poor wife, who 
kept him secretly in a chamber of the town-house, commonly 
called the Guildhall, more than a year. All which time the 
good old father abode in a chamber, locked up all the day, and 
spent his time in devout prayer, reading the Scriptures, and in 
carding of wool which his wife did spin. His wife did also go 
and beg bread and meat for herself and her children, and by 
such poor means they sustained themselves. Thus the saints of 
God sustained hunger and misery, while the prophets of Baal 
lived in jollity, and were costly pampered at Jezebel's table. 



256 SUFFERINGS OF £ARLY CHRISTIANS. 

" At last parson Newall (I know not by what means) per- 
ceived that Richard Yeoman was so kept by his poor wife, arid 
taking with him the bailiff's deputies and servants, came in the 
night-time, and broke open five doors to get at Yeoman, whom 
he found in bed with his wife and children ; whom when he 
had so found, he angrily cried, I thought I should find a harlot 
and a strumpet together. And he would have plucked the 
clothes off from them : but Yeoman held fast the clothes, and 
said unto his wife, Wife, arise, and put on thy clothes. And 
unto the parson he said, Nay, parson, no harlot, nor strumpet, 
but a married man and his wife, according to God's ordinance, 
and blessed be God for lawful matrimony. I thank God for this 
great grace, and I defy the pope and all his popery. Then they 
led Richard Yeoman unto the cage, and set him in the stocks 
until it was day. 

" There was then also in the cage an old man named John 
Dale, who had sat there three or four days, because when he 
said parson Newall with his curate used the Romish service 
in the church, he spake openly unto him, and said, O miserable 
and blind guides, will ye ever be blind leaders of the blind ? 
will ye never amend ? will ye never see the truth of God's 
word ? will neither God's threats nor promises enter into your 
.hearts? will the blood of martyrs nothing mollify your stony 
stomachs? obdurate, hard-hearted, perverse, and crooked 
generation ! O damnable sort, whom nothing can do good 
unto! 

" These, or the like words, he spake in fervency of spirit 
against the superstitious religion of Rome. Wherefore parson 
Newall caused him forthwith to be attached and set in the 
stocks in a cage. So was he kept there till Sir Henry Doyle, 
a justice, came to Hadley. 

" When poor Yeoman was taken, the parson called earnestly 
upon Sir Henry Doyle to send them both to prison. Sir Henry 
Doyle earnestly entreated the parson to consider the age of the 
men, and their mean condition ; they were neither persons of 
note nor preachers ; wherefore he would desire him to let them 
be punished a day or two, and so let them go, at least John 
Dale, who was no priest : and therefore seeing he had so 
long sat in the cage, he thought it punishment enough for this 
time. When the parson heard this, he was exceeding mad, and 
in a great rage called them pestilential heretics, unfit to live in 
the commonwealth of Christians. Wherefore I beseech you, 
sir, (quoth he,) according to your office, defend holy church, and 
help to suppress these heresies, &c. which are false to God, and 



John alcock. 257 

thus boldly set themselves, to the evil example of others, against 
the queen's gracious proceedings. Sir Henry Doyle, seeing he 
could do no good in this matter, and fearing also the danger of 
meddling too much in it, made out the writ, and caused the 
constables to carry them to Bury jail. For now, all the justices, 
though ever so many, were afraid of a shaven crown, and stood 
in as much awe of them, as Pilate did of Annas and Caiaphas, 
and the pharisaical brood, who cried, ' Crucify him, crucify him ; 
if thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend.' 

" Wherefore whatsoever their consciences were, yet (if they 
would escape danger) they must needs be the popish slaves and 
vassals. So they took Richard Yeoman and John Dale pin- 
ioned, and bound them like thieves, set them on horseback, 
and bound their legs under the horses' bellies, and so carried 
them to Bury jail, where they were laid in irons: and because 
they continually rebuked popery, they were thrown into the 
lowest dungeon, where John Dale, through sickness of the 
prison, and evil keeping, died in prison, whose body, when he 
was dead, was thrown out and buried in the fields. He was a 
man of forty-six years of age, a weaver by his occupation, well 
learned in the holy Scriptures, faithful and honest in all his con- 
versation, steadfast in confession of the true doctrine of Christ 
set forth in king Edward's time. 

" After that John Dale was dead, Richard Yeoman was re- 
moved to Norwich prison, where, after strait and evil keeping, 
lie was examined of his faith and religion. Then he boldly and 
constantly confessed himself to be of the faith and confession 
that was set forth by king Edward VI. and from that he would 
in nowise vary. The chief articles objected to him, were his 
marriage and the mass sacrifice. Wherefore when he continued 
steadfast in confession of the truth, he was condemned, degraded, 
and not only burnt, but most cruelly tormented in the fire. So 
he ended his poor and miserable life, and entered into the 
blessed bosom of Abraham, enjoying with Lazarus the comfort- 
able quietness that God hath prepared for his elect saints." 

STORY OF JOHN ALCOCK. 

" This young man was by occupation a shearman, and came 
to Had ley to seek work ; he being in church one Sunday, and 
parson Newali coming by with the procession, would not once 
move his cap, nor show any sign of reverence, but stood be- 
hind the font. The parson perceiving this, when he was 
almost out of the church door, ran back again, and caught him, 
and called for the constable. 
22* 



258 SUFFERINGS OF KAKLV CHRISTIANS, 

" Then came Robert Rolfe, with whom this young mail had 
wrought, and said, What hath he done, Mr. Parson, that you 
are in such a rage with him ? 

" He is a heretic and traitor, (quoth the parson,) and de- 
spiseth the queen's proceedings. Wherefore I command you 
in the queen's name, have him to the stocks, and see he be 
forthcoming. 

"Well, (quoth Rolfe,) he shall be forthcoming; proceed in 
your business, and be quiet* 

" Have him to the stocks, quoth the parson. 

" I am constable, quoth Rolfe, and I may bail him, and will 
bail him ; he shall not be put in the stocks, but he shall be 
forthcoming ; so the good parson went forth with his holy pro- 
cession, and so to mass. 

" In the afternoon Rolfe said to this young man, I am sorry 
for thee, for truly the parson will seek thy destruction, if thou 
take not heed what thou answerest him. 

" The young man said, Sir, I am sorry that it is my hap to 
be a trouble to you. As for myself, I am not sorry, but I com- 
mit myself into God's hands, and I trust he will give me mouth 
and wisdom to answer according to right. 

"Well, quoth Rolph, yet beware of him, for he is malicious 
and a bloodsucker, and beareth an old hatred against me, and 
he will handle you the more cruelly, because of displeasure 
against me. 

" I fear not, quoth the young man : he shall do no more to 
me, than God will give him leave ; and happy shall I be if God 
will call me to die for his truth's sake. 

" Then they went to the parson, who at the first asked him, 
Fellow, what sayest thou to the sacrament of the altar ? 

" I say, quoth he, as ye use the matter, ye make a shameful 
idol of it, and ye are false idolatrous priests, all the sort of you. 

u I told you (quoth the parson) he was a stout heretic. 

" So, after long talk, the parson committed him to prison, and 
the next day he rode up to London, and carried the young man 
with him ; and so the young man came no more to Hadley, but 
after a long imprisonment in Newgate, where after many exam- 
inations and troubles, for that he would not submit himself to 
ask forgiveness of the pope, and to be reconciled to the Romish 
religion, he was cast into the lower dungeon, where with ill 
keeping and sickness of the house, he died in prison. Thus 
died he a martyr of God's truth, which he heartily confessed, 
and received the garland of a well-fought battle at the hand of 
the Lord. His body was cast out and buried in a dunghill ; 



THOMAS BLMiKIDOL. 25ft 

lor the papists would in all thing! be like themselves ; therefore 
they would not BO macfa M suffer the dead bodies to have con- 
venient burial." 

kBTTRDOM Of tjiomas RE2ISU9G& 

This gentleman, althdugb he might have lived in the enjoy- 
ment of a plentiful fortune, yet, for Christ's sake, chose rather 

to enter through the strait gate of persecution* to the heavenly 
ssion oi life in the Lord's kingdom, than in this world to 
enjoy present plea- ores with tmquietness of conscience. Where- 
fore manfully standing against the papists for the defence of the 
true doctrine of Christ's gospel, he spared not himself to confirm 

the truth of the same. For which cause lie being apprehended 
as an adversary to the Rornish religion, was brought for exam- 
ination before the bishop of Winchester, where he sustained 
sundry conflicts fur the truth against the bishop and his col- 
league ; in the end of which he was condemned, and some time 
after brought to the place of martyrdom, by Sir Richard Peck- 
sal, sheriff. 

" When Standing at the stake, lie began to untie his points, 
and to prepare himself; then he gave his gown to the keeper, 
being belike his fee. I lis jerkin was laid on with gold lace 
fair and brave, which lie gave to Sir Richard Pecksal, the high- 
sheriff. His cap of velvet he took off from his head and threw 
it away. Then lifting his mind to the Lord, he made bis 
prayer-. 

44 That done, being I -mod to the stake, Dr. Seaton 

willed him to recant, and he should have his pardon ; but when 
he saw it prevailed not to speak, the said dreaming doctor willed 
the people riot to pray for him unless he would recant, no more 
than they would pray for a dog. 

".Mr. Benfaridge, standing at the stake with his hands toge- 
ther in Sttch manner as the priest holdeth his hands in his Me- 
mento, the said Dr. Seaton came to hirn again and exhorted him 
to recant; unto whom he said, Away, Babylonian, away! 

"Then said one that stood by, Sir, cut out his tongue! and 
another, being a temporal man, railed on hirn IVOTSe than Dr. 
Seaton did, who fas is thought) was set on by some other. 

"Thus when they saw he would not yield, they bade the tor- 
mentors to set to fire, and yet he was nothing like covered with 
fagots. First the fire took away a piece of his beard, wr 
he did not shrink at all. Then it came on the other side and 
took his legs, and the nether Stockings of his hose being leather, 

made the fire to pierce the -harper, so that the intolerable heat 



260 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS* 

thereof made him to cry, I recant ! and suddenly he thrust the 
fire from him. And having two or three of his friends by that 
wished his life, they stepped to the fire, and helped to take it 
from him also, who for their labor were sent to prison. The 
sheriff also, of his own authority, took him from the stake, and 
sent him to prison again, for which he was sent unto the Fleet, 
and lay there some time. But before he was taken from the 
stake, the said Dr. Seaton wrote articles to have him subscribe 
unto them, as touching the pope, the sacrament, and such other 
trash. But the said Mr. Benbridge made such ado before he 
would subscribe them, insomuch that Dr. Seaton ordered them 
to set to fire again. Then with much pain and grief of heart 
he subscribed to them upon a man's back. 

" That being done, he had his gown given him again, and so 
was led to prison. Being in prison he wrote a letter to Dr. 
Seaton, and recanted those words he spake at the stake, unto 
which he had subscribed ; for he was grieved that ever he sub- 
scribed unto them. Whereupon expressing his conscience, he 
was the same day sevennight after burnt indeed, while the vile 
tormentors did rather broil than burn him. The Lord give his 
enemies repentance." 

MARTYRDOM OF JOHN COOKE, ROBERT MILES (ALIAS PLUMMER,) AL- 
EXANDER LANE, AND JAMES ASHLEY. 

The examination of the four above-mentioned persons, who 
were all poor laboring men, but firm believers in Christ's pure 
doctrines, took place before the bishop of Norwich, Sir Edward 
Walgrave, and others. 

These four blessed martyrs innocently suffered together at 
Bury St. Edmund's about the beginning of August, not long 
before the last sickness of queen Mary. 

MARTYRDOM OF ALEXANDER GOUCH, AND ALICE DRIVER. 

Mr. Noone, a justice in Suffolk, dwelling in Marthelsham, 
hunting after good men to apprehend them, (as he was a blood- 
thirsty tyrant in the time of trial,) at length received intelligence 
that two godly persons, namely, one Alexander Gouch, of Wood- 
bridge, and Alice Driver, of Grosborough, were at that place 
together, a short distance from his house, and immediately took 
his men with him, went thither, and made diligent search for 
them ; when the poor man and woman were compelled to hide 
themselves in a hay-loft. The persecutors, at length, came to 
search the hay for them, and by driving their pitchforks in vari- 
ous parts of it, at last found them : so they took them and led 




Cruelties practised in Lollard's Tower, by order of Bishop Bonner. 




Martyrdom of John Come ford, Christopher Brcvne, John Her si,, 
Alike Snolh and Catherine Kn ; ght. 



PHILIP HUMPHRY, AND OTHERS. 261 

them to Melton jail, where after remaining a good while, they 
were carried to Bury, to the assizes, and being there examined 
of matters of faith, did boldly confess Christ crucified, defying 
the pope and his papistical trash. Among other things, Mrs. 
Driver likened queen Mary, in her persecution, to Jezebel ; and 
so in that sense called her Jezebel ; which so enraged Sir Clem- 
ent Higham, the chief justice there, that he ordered her ears 
immediately to be cut off, which was accordingly done, and 
she joyfully yielded herself to the punishment, thinking herself 
happy that she was counted worthy to suffer any thing for the 
name of Christ. 

On the 4th of November, 1558, both these persons were taken 
from Melton jail to Ipswich, escorted by the high-sheriff and his 
officers, and accompanied by a prodigious number of spectators. 
They arrived at Ipswich about seven o'clock in the morning, 
and were immediately led to the place of execution. 

When they came to the stake they sung psalms together, 
then knelt down, and fervently prayed for some time ; at which 
the sheriff was so offended, that he ordered the bailiffs to inter- 
rupt them, and desire they would make an end. 

Then Gough stood up and said unto the sheriff, I pray you, 
Mr. Sheriff, let us pray a little while, for we have but a little 
time to live here. 

Then said the bailiff, Come off, have them to the fire. 

Then the said Gough, and Alice Driver, said, Why, Master 
Sheriff, and Master Bailiff, will you not suffer us to pray ? 

Away, said Sir Henry, to the stake with them. 

Gough answered, Take heed, Mr. Sheriff, if you forbid prayer, 
the vengeance of God hangeth over your heads. Then they 
being tied to the stake, and the iron chain being put about Alice 
Driver's neck, O ! said she, here is a goodly handkerchief, bles- 
sed be God for it ! Then divers came and took them by the 
hands as they were bound standing at the stake. The sheriff 
cried, Lay hands on them, lay hands on them ! With that a 
great number ran to the stake. The sheriff seeing that, let 
them all alone, so that there was not one taken. 

MARTYRDOM OF PHILIP HUMPHRY, JOHN DAVID, AND HENRY DAVID, 
HIS BROTHER. 

About the same time, and for the same cause, the three men 
above mentioned were burned at Bury St. Edmund's, in Suf- 
folk ; but the particular account of their examinations and deaths 
is not recorded. 



262 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 



SUFFERINGS AND MARTYRDOM OF ELIZABETH P.1EST. 

This poor woman was the wife of a laboring man, and lived 
at a small village near the town of Launceston, in Cornwall. 
Her husband, and three children, were zealous papists, and she 
would frequently rebuke them for their superstition ; but her 
husband being a morose man, forced her sometimes to go to 
church, to follow in procession, and conform to the Eomish 
ceremonies. 

Being greatly afflicted at the thoughts of doing that which 
was so much against her conscience, she prayed to God for his 
assistance, took courage, and left her husband and family. 

For some time she traveled from one place to another, main- 
taining herself by labor and spinning. But, at length, she re- 
turned to her husband ; a few days after which she was accused 
of heresy by some of her neighbors, and being apprehended, 
was sent to Exeter, to be examined by Dr. Troublevile, then 
bishop of that see. 

During the time of her imprisonment, divers resorted to visit 
her, some sent by the bishop, some of their own voluntary will ; 
amongst whom was one Daniel, a great preacher of the gospel 
in the days of king Edward, in those parts of Cornwall and 
Devonshire : whom after that she perceived by his own confes- 
sion to have revolted from what he preached before, through the 
grievous imprisonments, as he said, and fear of persecution 
which he had partly sustained by the cruel justices in those 
parts, earnestly she exhorted him to repent with Peter, and to 
be more constant in his profession. 

Moreover, there resorted to her a certain worthy gentlewo- 
man, the wife of one Walter Eauly, a woman of noble wit, and 
of a good and godly opinion ; who coming to the prison, and 
talking with her, she said her creed to the gentlewoman ; and 
when she came to the article, He ascended, there she staid, and 
bid the gentlewoman to seek his blessed body in heaven, not on 
earth, and told her plainly that God dvvelleth not in temples 
made with hands, and the sacrament to be nothing else but a 
remembrance of his blessed passion ; and yet, said she, as they 
now use it, it is but an idol, and far wide from any remembrance 
of Christ's body ; which, said she, will not continue, and so take 
it, good mistress. So that as soon as she came home to her 
husband, she declared to him, that in her life she never heard a 
woman (of such simplicity to look on) talk so godly, so perfect- 
ly, so sincerely, and so earnestly ; insomuch, that if God were 
not with her, she could not speak such things. 



ELIZABETH PREST. 263 

Also there came to her one William Kede, and John his 
brother, not only brethren in the flesh, but also in the truth, and 
men in that country of great credit, whose father, R. Kede, all 
his life suffered nothing but trouble for the gospel. These two 
good brethren were present with her, both in the hall, and at 
the prison, and (as they said) they never heard the like woman, 
of so godly talk, so faithful or so constant. 

Thus this good matron was by many ways tried, by hard 
imprisonment, threatenings, taunts and scorns, called an Ana- 
baptist, a mad woman, a drunkard, a runagate. She was proved 
by liberty to go whither she would ; she was tried by flattery, 
with many fair promises ; she was tried with her husband, her 
goods and children; but nothing could prevail; her heart was 
fixed, she had cast anchor, utterly contemning this wicked 
world. 

Although she was of such simplicity, and unskilled in the 
knowledge of this world, you could declare no place of Scrip- 
ture, but she would tell you the chapter ; yea, she would recite 
you the names of all the books of the Bible. For which cause 
one Gregory Basset, a rank papist, said she was out of her 
wits, and talked of the Scripture as a dog rangeth far off from 
his master when he walketh in the fields, or as a stolen sheep 
out of his master's hands, she knew not whereat, as all heretics 
do; with many other taunts, which she utterly defied. 

At last, when they could neither by imprisonment nor liberty, 
by menaces nor flattery, win her to their vanities and supersti- 
tious doings, then they cried out, Anabaptist, an Anabaptist! 
Then in one day they brought her from the bishop's prison to the 
Guild-hall, and after that delivered her to the temporal power, 
according to their custom, where she was by the gentlemen of 
the country exhorted yet to call for grace: "and go home to 
thy husband," said they, " thou art an unlearned woman, thou 
art not able to answer such high matters." 

" I am not,'' said she ; " yet with my death I am content to 
be a witness of Christ's death." 

During the time that this good woman was thus under these 
priests' hands, she sustained many baitings and sore conflicts. 
But in fine, (after many combats and scoffing persuasions,) 
when they had played the part of the cat with the mouse, they 
at length condemned her, and delivered her over to the secular 
power. 

Then the sentence being given, That she should go to the 
place from whence she came, and from thence to the place of 
execution, there to be burned with flames, till she be consumed; 



264 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

she lifted up her voice and thanked God, saying, " I thank thee, 
my Lord, my God; this day have I found that which I have 
long sought." And yet this favor they pretended after her 
judgment, that her life should be spared, if she would turn and 
recant. " Nay, that I will not," said she : " God forbid that I 
should lose the life eternal for this carnal and short life." 

Then was she delivered to the sheriff, innumerable people 
beholding her, and led by the officers to the place of execution, 
without the walls of Exeter, called Southernhay, where again 
these superstitious priests assaulted her ; and she prayed them 
to have no more talk with her, but cried still, " God be merciful 
to me, a sinner." And so while they were tying her to a 
stake, thus still she cried, and would give no answer to them, 
but with much patience took her cruel death, and was with 
flames of fire consumed ; and so ended this mortal life, as 
constant a woman in the faith of Christ, as ever was upon the 
earth. 

MARTYRDOM OF JOHN CORNEFORD, CHRISTOPHER BROWNE, JOHN 
HERST, ALICE SNOTH, AND CATHARINE KNIGHT, (ALIAS TINLEY.) 

These five persons were the last who suffered in queen Ma- 
ry's reign for the testimony of that word for which so many had 
died before, and gave up their lives meekly and patiently, suf- 
fering the violent malice of the papists. 

The matter why they were judged to the fire was, for believ- 
ing the body not to be in the sacrament of the altar, unless it 
be received: 

For confessing that an evil man does not receive Christ's body : 

That it is idolatry to creep to the cross, and that St. John 
forbiddeth it, saying, " Beware of images :" 

For confessing that we should not pray to saints, because 
they be not omnipotent. 

For these and other similar articles of Christian doctrine, 
they were committed to the flames. Notwithstanding the 
sickness of queen Mary, whereof they were not ignorant, the 
archdeacon and others of Canterbury hastened to despatch the 
martyrdom of these persons, before her death, which was daily 
expected, should deprive them of the power. 

In so doing this archdeacon proved himself more bigoted and 
bloodthirsty than even Bonner, who, notwithstanding he had 
some at the same time under his custody, yet did not hurry 
them to the stake, as appears by several persons who, being then 
in his prison, were delivered by the death of queen Mary. 

We have not any particulars relative to the examinations, 



JOHN HUNT AND RICHARD WHITE. 265 

&c. of the five persons above named, but the following anec- 
dotes of two of them are given by the Martyrologist. 

Catharine Tinley was the mother of one Robert Tinley, 
dwelling in Maidstone, which Robert was in trouble all queen 
Mary's time. To whom his mother coming to visit him, asked 
him how he took this place of Scripture which she had seen, 
not by reading the Scripture, (for she had yet in manner no 
taste of religion,) but had found it by chance in a book of pray- 
ers, " I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons 
and your daughters shall prophesy ; your old men shall dream 
dreams, and your young men shall see visions. And upon the 
servants and upon the maids in those days will I pour my 
Spirit," &c. Which place after that he had expounded to her, 
she began to take hold on the gospel, growing more and more 
in zeal and love thereof, and so continued unto her martyrdom. 

Among such women as were burned at Canterbury, it is 
recorded of a certain maid, and supposed to be this Alice Snoth 
mentioned in this story, or else to be Agnes Snoth, of whom an 
account is given in a preceding page, that when she was brought 
to be executed, she being at the stake, called for her godfathers 
and godmothers. The justice hearing her, sent for them, but 
they durst not come. Notwithstanding the justices willed the 
messenger to go again, and to show them that they should incur 
no danger thereof. 

Then they hearing that, came to know the matter of their 
sending for. When the maid saw them, she asked them what 
they had promised for her, and so she immediately rehearsed 
her faith, and the commandments of God, and required of them, 
if there were any more that they had promised in her behalf; 
and they said, No. 

Then, said she, I die a Christian woman, bear witness of me ; 
and she was consumed in fire, and gave up her life joyfully for 
the testimony of Christ's gospel, to the terror of the wicked, and 
comfort of the godly, and also to the stopping of the slanderous 
mouths of such as falsely do quarrel against the faithful martyrs, 
for going from that religion wherein by their godfathers and 
godmothers they were at first baptized. 

CONDEMNATION OF JOHN HUNT AND RICHARD WHITE, WHO ESCAPED 
THE FIRE BY THE DEATH OF QUEEN MARY. 

Several others were imprisoned in various places, whereof 
some were but lately taken and not examined, some were ex- 
amined but not condemned, and others had been both examined 
and condemned, but the warrants for their execution not being 
23 



266 SUFFERINGS OF EASILY CHRISTIANS. 

signed, they escaped. Nay, of sbme the writ had been brought 
down for their burning, and yet l>y the death of the chancellor* 
the bishop, and of queen Mary, happening about one time, they 
most happily and miraculously were preserved, and lived many 
years after. Of these were John Hunt, and Richard White, 
imprisoned at Salisbury, of whom the history is given, as fol- 
lows : 

" These two good men had been in prison at Salisbury, and 
other places thereabouts, more than two years ; were often called 
to examination, and manifold ways impugned by the bishops 
agd priests. As a specimen we shall give the examination of 
Richard White, before Dr> Capon, the bishop of Salisbury, Dr. 
Brookes, the bishop of Gloucester, with Dr. Geoffrey, the chan- 
cellor, and other priests, with whom first the bishop of Glouces- 
ter, who had the examination of him, began thus : 

" On being interrogated for what cause he came hither, White 
answered that he desired to know the cause, and referred to the 
register as to his examination at Marlborough. After some ir- 
relevant matter he was asked his opinion of the sacrament of 
the altar, when they stumbled upon the very definition of a 
sacrament, a word first framed by St. Augustine, and not to be 
found in Scripture ; and White declared that Christ and his 
sacraments are alike, and that in both are two natures ; in the 
one, a divine and human nature, in the other, an external and 
an internal; the external being the element of bread and wine, 
and the internal the invisible grace. He afterwards observed 
that Christ, as God, is in all places ; but as man, only in one 
place. After some other questions, equally appropriate, and 
answers not more satisfactory to his persecutors, he was ordered 
away to the Lollards' Tower. They were sent for to be con- 
demned by the chancellor, who delivered them to the sheriff in 
order to execution. 

" The sheriff, Sir Anthony Hungerford, being advised by his 
son-in-law, Mr. Clifford, of Bosco, (perhaps Boscomb,) in Wilts, 
deferred their execution, until he received the writ de combu- 
rendo ; and was supported therein by Mr. Justice Brown, on 
which he left the town, and the chancellor rode after him, to 
know why he had not seen them executed. 

" The sheriff hearing the chancellor's words, and seeing him 
so urgent upon him, told him again that he was no babe, which 
now was to be taught of him. If he had any writ to warrant and 
discharge him in burning those men, then he knew what he 
had to do ; but if you have no other writ but that which you 
signed, I tell you, I will neither burn them for you, nor any of 

v nu all. 



DEATH OF MARY. 267 

" Where note again (good reader) how by this it may be 
thought and supposed, that the other poor saints and martyrs 
of God, such as had been burned at Salisbury before, were 
burned belike without any authorized or sufficient writ from the 
superiors, but only from the information of the chancellor and 
of the close. 

" Dr. Geoffrey, the chancellor, thus sent away from the sher- 
iff, went home, and there fell sick upon the same. 

" The under-sheriff to this Sir Anthony Hungerford, above 
named, was one Mr. Michell, a godly man. So that not long 
after this came down the writ to burn the above-named Richard 
White and John Hunt; but the under-sheriff said, I will not be 
guilty of these men's blood : and immediately burnt the writing, 
and departed his way. Within four days after, the chancellor 
died ; concerning whose death this cometh by the way to be 
noted, that these two aforesaid, John Hunt and Richard White, 
being at the same time in a low and dark dungeon, suddenly 
fell to such a weeping (but how they could not tell) that they 
could not pray one word ; the first word they heard in the morn- 
ing was, that the chancellor was dead, which happened the 
same hour when they fell into such a sudden weeping. Rich- 
ard White and John Hunt, after the death of the chancellor, the 
bishop also being dead a little before, continued still in prison 
till the happy coming in of queen Elizabeth ; and so were set 
at liberty." 

DEATH OF QUEEN MARY. 

Happy are we to say, that the five persons mentioned above 
completed the number of human sacrifices in this island. They 
were the last who fell victims to gratify the malevolent heart of 
Bonner, and the bigoted zeal of the unfeeling and relentless 
Mary. 

The queen's health had been long declining. She had, for 
some time, been afflicted with the dropsy, in consequence of a 
false conception, and the improper regimen which she pursued. 
Her malady was greatly augmented by the anxiety of her mind, 
which was a prey to the most painful reflections. The con- 
sciousness of being hated by her subjects ; the mortification of 
being childless ; the fear of leaving her crown to a sister whom 
she detested ; the approaching ruin that threatened the Catholic 
religion in England on her death ; the indifference of her hus- 
band, (Philip of Spain,) who, never having loved her, had now 
ceased to treat her even with the outward show of affection, and 
had retired into his own country in disgust ; all these painful 



268 SUFFERINGS O? EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

circumstances preyed upon her mind, and at length threw her 
into a slow fever, of which she died on the 17th of November, 
1558, in the forty-third year of her age, and the sixth of her reign. 

When we consider the bigoted zeal of this infatuated princess, 
and the great number of valuable lives sacrificed through her ar- 
bitrary mandates, we are naturally led to condemn her, first, as a 
fellow-creature, and next, as a sovereign ; but more particularly 
in the latter character, because, as Providence had placed her in 
so distinguished a rank, she should have held out the arm of pro- 
tection to her subjects, instead of the sword of destruction. But 
the whole progress of her reign does not furnish us with a sin- 
gle instance of merit in her, either as a woman or a sovereign. 
On the contrary, all her actions were of the most horrid and 
gloomy cast ; and the barbarities she committed, during her 
reign, were such as to exceed description. With her the prac- 
tice of religion became the trade of murder, and the care of her 
people the exercise of her cruelty; while all her views for their 
happiness terminated in punishments for their virtues. Her 
bigotry infected every branch of government, and weakened 
every band of society. She had not any thing engaging, either 
in her person, her behavior, or her address : her understanding 
was confined within very narrow limits, and her temper was 
morose and gloomy ; while obstinacy, bigotry, violence, malig- 
nity, revenge, and tyranny, directed all her actions. 

The death of queen Mary revived the drooping spirits of the 
long-oppressed Protestants. They now anticipated the peaceful 
period, when they should no longer be persecuted for their reli- 
gion ; and when their virtues would not expose them to the 
rage of ignorance and bigotry. 

Nor were they mistaken : Elizabeth was as strong an advo- 
cate for the Protestant religion, as her predecessor had been 
inveterate against it. No sooner did she ascend the throne, 
than her attention was directed to the protection of the professors 
of the reformed religion ; but she did this in so wise and pru- 
dent a manner, as to prevent any disturbance from the opposite 
party. By her distinguished management, in a short time, she 
fixed the Protestant religion on so solid a basis, as to prevent its 
being again overthrown, and evfer since her reign, though vari- 
ous attempts have been made to destroy it, they have all termi- 
nated in the defeat of the conspirators, and the ruin of their 
projects. That they may always so terminate, should be the 
fervent prayer of every one who prefers purity to corruption, 
and the decent ritual of the reformed church, to the frivolous 
ceremonies and pompous nothingness of the popish worship. 



W1LM0T AND FAIRFAX. 269 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

" A Treatise concerning those that were scourged by the Papists, 
for the cause of the Gospel, and those, who, after various Suf- 
ferings, escaped." 

The following "Treatise" concerning those persons who, 
though not actually put to death, were yet persecuted and cru- 
elly treated by the enemies of the gospel, is so interesting, and 
so worthy of preservation on many accounts, that we should 
consider our work very incomplete, and we doubt not our read- 
ers would be of the same opinion, were we to omit it ; we there- 
fore give it entire, and wish to direct particular attention to that 
which relates to the marvellous preservation of many of those 
whom the agents of Antichrist had devoted to destruction ; from 
this a consoling reflection may be drawn, — that, however des- 
perate our condition may seem in the eyes of the world, there is 
One who can assist us; and, however we may be surrounded, 
" shot at, and sore grieved, by the archers," He who smote the 
army of Sennacherib, as it were with a whirlwind, will deliver 
us, in his good time, from the malice of our enemies, and be- 
come the tower of our refuge and the rock of our salvation. 

After this bloody slaughter of God's saints and servants thus 
ended and discussed, let us now proceed (by God's assistance) 
to treat of such as for the same cause of religion have been, 
though not put to death, yet whipped and scourged by the ene- 
mies of God's word, first beginning with Richard Wilmot and 
Thomas Fairfax, who, about the time of Anne Askew, were 
miserably rent and tormented with scourges and stripes, for 
their faithful standing to Christ and his truth, as by the story 
and examination of them both may appear. 

THE SCOURGING OF RICHARD WILMOT AND THOMAS FAIRFAX. 

The said Wilmot and Fairfax were sent for to come to the 
lord mayor. The messenger was Mr. Smart, the sword-bearer 
of London. They came before dinner to the mayor's house, 
and were commanded to sit down to dinner in the hall ; and 
when dinner was done, they were both called into a parlor, 
where the mayor and Sir Roger Cholmley was, who examined 
them severally, the one not hearing the other. 
23* 



270 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

The effect of their discourse was this ; Sir Roger Cholmley 
said to Wilmot, that my lord mayor and he had received a 
commandment from the council, to send for him and his com- 
pany, and to examine them of certain things which were laid to 
their charge. 

Then said Cholmley to him, Sirrah, what countryman art 
thou ? He answered, That he was born in Cambridgeshire, 
and in such a town. Then he asked him how long he had 
known Dr. Crome. He said, about two years. Then he called 
him a lying boy, and said that he (the said Wilmot) was his son. 

The other said unto him, That was unlike, for that he never 
saw his mother nor she him. Cholmley said he lied. Wilmot 
said he could prove it to be true. Then he asked him how he 
liked his sermon that he made at St. Thomas Acres chapel in 
Lent. He said that indeed he heard him not. He said yes, 
and the other nay. Then said he, What say you to this ser- 
mon made at the Cross the last day, heard you not that ? 

Wilmot. Yes, and in that sermon he deceived a great num- 
ber of people. 

Cholmley. How so ? 

Wilmot. For that they looked that he should have recanted 
his doctrine that he taught before, and did not, but rather con- 
firmed it. 

Cholmley. Yea, sir, but how say you now to him ? For he 
hath recanted before the council ; and hath promised on Sunday 
next to be at the Cross again : how think you of that ? 

Wilmot. If he so did, I am the more sorry to hear it ; and 
said, he thought he did it for fear and safeguard of his life. 

Cholmley. But what say you ? Was his first sermon heresy 
or not ? 

Wilmot. No, I suppose it was no heresy, for if it were, St. 
Paul's epistle to the Hebrews was heresy, and Paul a heretic 
that preached such doctrine ; but God forbid that any Christian 
man should so think of the holy apostle ; neither do I so think. 

Cholmley. Why, how knowest thou that St. Paul wrote those 
things that are in English now, to be true, whereas Paul never 
wrote English or Latin ? 

Wilmot. I am certified that learned men of God, that did 
seek to advance his word, did translate the same out of the 
Greek and Hebrew into Latin and English, and that they durst 
not presume to alter the sense of the Scripture of God, and last 
will and Testament of Christ Jesus. 

Then the lord mayor, being in a great fury, asked him what 
he had to do to read such books, and said, that it was a pity 



WILM0T AND FAIRFAX. 271 

that his master did suffer him so to do, and that he was not set 
better to work ; and in fine said unto him, that he had spoken 
evil of my lord of Winchester, and bishop Bonner, those rever- 
end and learned fathers and counsellors of this realm, for which 
his act he saw no other but he must suffer, as was due to the 
same. And Sir R. Cholmley said, Yea, my lord, there is such 
a sort of heretics and traitorous knaves taken now in Essex by 
my lord Rich, that it is too wonderful to hear. They shall be 
sent to the bishop shortly, and shall be hanged and burned all. 

Wilmot. I am sorry to hear that of my lord Rich, for that he 
was my godfather, and gave me my name at my baptism. 

Cholmley asked him when he spake with him. He said, 
not these twelve years. 

Cholmley. If he knew that you were such a one, he would 
do the like by you, and in so doing he should do God great 
service. 

Wilmot. I have read the same saying in the gospel that 
Christ said to his disciples, " The time shall come," saith he, 
"that whosoever killeth you, shall think that he shall do God 
good service." 

Well, sir, said Cholmley, because you are so full of your 
Scripture, and so well learned, we consider you lack a quiet 
place to study in. Therefore you shall go to a place where 
you shall be most quiet, and I would wish you to study how 
you will answer to the council of those things which they have 
to charge you with, for else it is like to cost you your best joint. 
I know my lord of Winchester will handle you well enough, 
when he heareth thus much. Then was the officer called in to 
have him to the Compter in the Poultry, and the other to the 
other Compter, not one of them to see another ; and thus they 
remained eight days. In which time their masters made great 
suit to the lord mayor, and to Sir Roger Cholmley, to know 
their offences, and that they might be delivered. 

At length they procured the wardens of the company of Dra- 
pers to labor with them in their suit to the mayor. The mayor 
went with them to the council: but at that time they could find 
no grace at Winchester's hand, and Sir Antony Browne's, but 
that they had deserved death, and that they should have the 
law. 

At length, through much entreaty, he granted them this favor, 
that they should not die as they had deserved, but should be 
tied to a cart's tail, and be whipped three market-days through 
the city. Thus they came home that day, and went another 
day, and the master and wardens of the company petitioned on 



272 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

their knees to have this open punishment released, forasmuch 
as they were servants of so worshipful a company, and that 
they might be punished in their own hall, before the wardens, 
and certain of the company, which at length was granted. 

The next day they appeared before the masters in the hall, 
their own masters being there, where they were charged with 
heresy and treason, for which, they were told, they deserved 
death, and this was declared, with a long process, by Mr. 
Brookes, the master of the company, declaring what labor and 
suit the mayor and wardens had made for them, to save them 
from death, which they (as he said) had deserved, and from 
open shame, which they should have had, being judged by the 
council to have been whipped three days through the city, at a 
cart's tail, and from these two dangers they had labored to de- 
liver them, but not without great trouble and charge. For (said 
he) the company hath promised the council for this their mercy 
towards them, a hundred pounds : notwithstanding, we must see 
them punished in our hall, within ourselves, for those their 
offences. After these, and many other words, he commanded 
them to prepare themselves to receive their punishment. 

Then they were put asunder, and stripped from the waist 
upward, one after another, and were had into the midst of the 
hall where they were wont to make their fire ; there was a great 
ring of iron, to which there was a rope tied fast, and one of 
their feet tied fast to that. 

Then came down two men disguised in mummers' apparel, 
with visors on their faces, and they beat them with great rods 
till the blood flowed out of their bodies. As for Wilmot, he 
could not lie in his bed for six nights after, for Brookes played 
the tyrant with them ; so that, with the pain and fear, they were 
never in health afterwards, as the said Wilmot with his mouth 
hath credibly informed us, and we can do no less than testify 
the same. 

Thus have we briefly declared this little tragedy, wherein we 
may note the malice of the enemies at all times to those who 
profess Christ, and take his part, of what estate or degree soever 
they be, according to the apostle's saying, " It is given unto you 
not only to believe, but also to suffer with him." To whom be 
honor and glory, Amen. 

THE SCOURGING OF THOMAS GREEN, PRINTER, WRITTEN BY HIS OWN 

HAND. 

In the reign of queen Mary, I, Thomas Green, being brought 
before Dr. Story, by my master, whose name is John Wayland, 



THOMAS GREEN. 273 

a printer, for a book called Antichrist, which had been dis- 
tributed to certain honest men ; he asked me where I had the 
book, and said I was a traitor. I told him I had the book of a 
Frenchman. Then he asked me more questions, but I told him 
I could tell him no more. Then he said, it was no heresy, but 
treason, and that I should be hanged, drawn and quartered ; 
and so he called for Cluny, the keeper of the Lollards' Tower, 
and bid him set me fast in the stocks ; and he took me out, and 
carried me to the Coal-house, and there I found a Frenchman 
lying in the stocks, and he took him out, and put a bolt and a 
fetter on my right leg, and another on my left hand, and so he 
set me cross-fettered in the stocks, and took the Frenchman 
away with him, and there I lay a day and a night. On the 
morrow after, he came and said, Let me shift your hand and 
your leg, because you shall not be lame ; and he made as 
though he pitied me, and said, Tell me the truth, and I will be 
your friend. 

And I said, I had told the truth, and could tell no otherwise. 
Then he put only my leg in the stocks, and so went his way, 
and there I remained six days, and would come to no answer. 

Then Dr. Story sent for me, and asked me whether I would 
tell him the truth, where I had the book. I said I had told him, 
of a Frenchman. He asked me where I came acquainted with 
the Frenchman, where he dwelt, and where he delivered me 
the book. I said, I came acquainted with him in Newgate, I 
coming to my friends who were put in for God's word and 
truth's sake, and the Frenchman coming to his friends : also 
there we talked together, and became acquainted one with an- 
other, and did eat and drink together there, with our friends, in 
the fear of God. 

Then Story scoffed at me, and said, Then there was brother 
in Christ, and brother in Christ; and reviled me, and called me 
a heretic, and asked me if I had the book of him in Newgate. 
I said, No ; and I told him, as I went on my business in the 
street, I met him, and he asked me how I did, and I him also ; 
so falling into discourse, he showed me that book, and I desired 
him that he would let me have it. 

In this examination Story said, it was a great book, and asked 
me whether I bought it, or had it given me. I told him I bought 
it. Then he said, I was a thief, and had stolen my master's 
money. And I said, a little money served, for I gave him but 
four-pence, but I promised him, that at our next meeting I would 
give him twelve-pence more. And he said, that was boldly 
done, for such a book as spake both treason and heresy. 



274 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

Then Story required me to bring him two sureties and watch 
for him that I had the book of, and I should have no harm. I 
made him answer, I would bring no sureties, nor could I tell 
where to find them. Then said he, This is but a lie ; and so 
called for Cluny, and bid him lay me fast in the Coal-house, say- 
ing, he would make me tell another tale at my next coming ; and 
so I lay in the stocks, day and night, but only when I ate my 
meat, and there remained ten days before I was called for again. 

Then Dr. Story sent for me again, and asked if I would yet 
tell him the truth ; I said, I neither could nor would tell him 
any other truth than I had done already. And while I was 
there standing, there were two brought, which I took to be 
prisoners. 

Then Mrs. Story fell in a great rage, and sware a great oath, 
that it were a good deed to put a hundred or two of these here- 
tic knaves in a house, and I myself (said she) would set it on 
fire ! So I was committed to prison again, where I remained 
fourteen days, and came to no answer. 

Then Story sent for me again, and called me into the garden, 
where I found with him my lord of Windsor's chaplain, and 
two gentlemen more, and he told them all what they had said 
and done. They said, the book was a wondrous evil book, and 
had both treason and heresy in it. They then asked me what 
I said of the book. And I said, I knew no evil by it. 

At which words Story chafed, and said he would hang me 
up by the hand with a rope ; and said also, he would cut out 
my tongue, and my ears also from my head. After this, they 
alleged two or three things unto me out of the book. And I 
answered, I had not read the book throughout, and therefore 
could give no judgment of it. 

Then my lord of Windsor's chaplain and the other two gen- 
tlemen took me aside, and entreated me very gently, saying, 
Tell us where you had the book, and of whom, and we will 
save you harmless. I made them answer, that I had told all I 
could to Dr. Story, and began to tell it them again : but they 
said, they knew that already ; so they left that talk, and went 
again with me to Story. 

Then Story burdened me with my faith, and said I was a 
heretic. Whereupon the chaplain asked me how I did believe. 
Then I began to rehearse the articles of my belief, but he bid 
me let that alone. Then he asked me how I believed in 
Christ. I made him answer, that I believed in Christ, who 
died, and rose again the third day, and sitteth on the right hand 
of God the Father. 



THOMAS GREEN. 275 

Whereupon Story asked me mockingly, What is the right 
hand of God ? I made him answer, I thought it was his glory. 
Then said he, So they say all. And he asked me, when he 
would be weary of sitting there? Then interfered my lord of 
Windsor's chaplain, asking me what I said to the mass. I said, 
I never knew what it was, nor what it meant, for I understood it 
not, because I never learned any Latin, and since the time I had 
any knowledge, I had been brought up in nothing but in reading 
of English, and with such men as have taught the same; with 
many more questions, which I cannot rehearse. 

Moreover, he a^ked me if there were not the very body of 
Christ, flesh, blood, and bone, in the mass, after the priest 
had consecrated it. And I made him answer, As for the mass, 
I cannot understand it; but in the New Testament I read, that 
as the apostles stood looking after the Lord when he ascended 
up into heaven, an angel said to them, " Even as ye see him 
ascend up, so shall he come again." And I told them another 
sentence, where Christ saith, " The poor shall you have always 
with you, but me ye shall not have always." 

Then Mr. Chaplain put many more questions to me, to which 
I made no answer. Among others, he brought Chrysostom 
and St. Hierome, for his purpose. To whom I answered, that 
I neither minded nor was able to answer their doctors, neither 
knew whether they alleged them right, or no, but to that which 
is written in the New Testament I would answer. Here they 
laughed me to scorn, and called me fool, and said, they would 
reason no more with me. 

Then Dr. Story called for Cluny, and bid him take me away, 
and set me fast, and let no man speak with me. So I was sent 
to the Coal-house; where I had not been a week, but there 
came in fourteen prisoners : but I was kept still alone without 
company, in a prison called Salt-house, having upon my leg a 
bolt and a fetter, and my hands manacled together with irons, 
and there continued ten days, having nothing to lie on, but bare 
stones or a board. 

On a time whilst I lay there in prison, the bishop of London 
coming down a pair of stairs on the back-side undrest, in his 
hose and doublet, looked through the grate, and asked wherefore 
I was put in, and who put me in. 

I made him answer, that I was put in for a book called Anti- 
christ, by Dr. Story. And he said, You are not ashamed to 
declare wherefore you were put in ! and said it was a very 
wicked book, and bid me confess the truth to Story. I said, I 
had told the truth to him already, and desired him to be good 



276 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

unto me, and help me out of prison, for they had kept me there 
a long time. And he said he could not meddle with it ; Story 
had begun, and he must end it. 

Then I was removed out of the Salt-house to give place to 
two women, and carried to the Lollards' Tower, and put in the 
stocks ; and there I found two prisoners, one called Lion, a 
Frenchman, and another with him : and so I was kept in the 
stocks more than a month both day and night, and no man 
suffered to come to me, or to speak with me, but only my keeper. 

Thus we three being together, Lion, the Frenchman, sung a 
psalm in the French tongue, and we sang with him, so that we 
were heard down in the street, and the keeper coming up in a 
great rage, sware that he would put all in the stocks, and so 
took the Frenchman, and commanded him to kneel down upon 
his knees, and put both his hands in the stocks, where he re- 
mained all that night till the next day. 

After this, I being in Lollards' Tower seven days, since my 
last being with Story, he sw r are a great oath, that he would rack 
me, and make me tell the truth. Then Story sending for me, 
commanded me to be brought to Walbrook, where he and the 
commissioners dined ; and by the w r ay the keeper told me that 
I should go to the Tower to be racked. So when they had 
du?ed, Story called for me in, and so there I stood before them, 
and some said I was worthy to be hanged for having such here- 
tical books. After I had staid a little while before them, Story 
called for the keeper, and commanded him to carry me to the 
Lollards' Tower again, and said he had other matters of the 
queen's to do with the commissioners, but he would find another 
time for me. Whilst I lay yet in the Lollards' Tower the 
woman which brought me the books over was taken, and her 
books were put in the Clink, in Southwark, by Hussey, one of 
the arches ; and I Thomas Green do testify before God, now, 
that I neither discovered the man nor the woman of whom I 
had the books. 

Then I lying in the Lollards' Tower, being sent for before 
Mr. Hussey, he required of me, wherefore I was put into the 
Lollards' Tower, and by whom. To whom I answered, that I 
was put there by Dr. Story, for a book called Antichrist. Then 
he made as though he would be my friend, and said he knew 
my friends, and my father and mother, and bid me tell him of 
whom I had the book, and said, Come on, tell me the truth. I 
told him as I had told Dr. Story before. 

Then he was angry, and said, I love thee well, and therefore 
I send for thee, and looked for a further truth : but I could tell 



THOMAS GREEN, 27? 

him no other ; whereupon he sent me again to the Lollards' 
Tower. At my going away he called me back again, and said, 
that Dixon gave me the books, being an old man, dwelling in 
Birchin-lane ; and I said he knew the matter better than I. So 
he sent me away to the Lollards' Tower, where I remained 
seven days more. 

Then Mr. Hussey sent for me again, and required of me to 
tell him the truth. I told him I could tell him no other truth 
than I had told Dr. Story before. 

Then he began to tell me of Dixon, of whom, he said, I had 
the books, who had made the matter manifest before ; and he 
told me of all things touching Dixon and the books, more than 
I could myself, insomuch that he told me how many I had, and 
that he had a sack full of them in his house, and knew where 
the woman lay, better than myself. Then I saw the matter so 
open and manifest before my face, that it signified nothing for 
me to stand in it. He asked me what I had done with the 
books, and I told him I had but one, and that Dr. Story had. 
He said I lied, for I had three at one time, and he required me 
to tell him of one. 

Then I told him of one that John Beane had of me, being 
apprentice with Mr. Tottle. So he promised me before and 
after, and as he should be saved before God, that he should have 
no harm. And I kneeling down upon my knees, desired him 
to take my blood, and not to hurt the young man. Then he 
said, Because you have been so stubborn, the matter being 
made manifest by others and not by you, you being so long in 
prison, tell me if you will stand to my judgment. I said, Yea, 
take my blood, and hurt not the young man. 

Then he told me, I should be whipped like a thief and a 
vagabond : and so I thanked him, and went my way with the 
keeper to the Lollards' Tower, where I remained two or three 
days, and so was brought by the keeper, Cluny, by the com- 
mandment of the commissioners, to Christ's Hospital, sometime 
the Gray-Friars, and accordingly had there for that time the 
correction of thieves and vagabonds ; and so was delivered to 
Trinian, the porter, and put into a stinking dungeon. 

And after a few days, I finding friendship, was let out of the 
dungeon, and lay in a bed in the night, and walked in a yard 
by the dungeon in the day-time, and so remained prisoner a 
month and more. 

At length Dr. Story came, and two gentlemen with him, and 
called for me, and I was brought before them. Then he said 
to the gentlemen, Here cometh this heretic, of whom I had the 
24 



2?8 SUFFERINGS Of EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

book called Antichrist ; and began to tell them how many times 
I had been before him, and said, I have entreated him very 
gently, and he would never tell me the truth, till he was found 
out by others. Then said he, It were a good deed to cut out 
thy tongue, and thy ears off thy head, to make thee an example 
to all other heretic knaves. And the gentlemen said, Nay, that 
were pity. Then he asked me if I would not become an honest 
man : and I said, Yes, for I had offended God many ways. 
Whereupon he burdened me with my faith ; I told him that I 
had made him answer of my faith before my lord Windsor's 
chaplain as much as I could. 

So in the end he commanded me to be stripped, he standing 
by me, and called for two of the beadles and the whips to whip 
me ; and the two beadles came with a cord, and bound my 
hands together, and the one end of the cord to a stone pillar. 
Then one of my friends, called Nicholas Priestman, hearing 
them call for whips, hurled in a bundle of rods, which seemed 
something to pacify the mind of his cruelty ; and they scourged 
me with rods. But as they were whipping of me, Story asked 
me if I would go unto my master again, and I said nay. And 
he said, I perceive now he will be worse than ever he was be- 
fore ; but let me alone, (quoth he,) I will find him out if he be 
in England. And so with many other things, which I cannot 
rehearse, when they had done whipping of me, they bid me pay 
my fees, and go my ways. 

Dr. Story commanded that I should have a hundred stripes, 

but the gentlemen so entreated, that I had not so many, Story 

saying, If I might have my will, I would surely cut out his 

tongue. 
t 

THE SCOURGING OF JAMES HARRIS. 

In this society of the scourged professors of Christ, was also 
one James Harris, of Billerica, in Essex, a stripling of the age 
of seventeen years ; who being apprehended and sent up to 
Bonner in the company of Margaret Ellis, by Sir John Mor- 
daunt, knight, and Edmund Tyrrel, justice of peace, (as appear- 
eth by their own letters before-mentioned,) was by Bonner 
divers times strictly examined. In which examinations he was 
charged not to have come to his parish church for the space of 
one year or more. Whereunto he granted, confessing there- 
withal, that once, for fear, he had been at the church, and there 
had received the popish sacrament of the altar, for which he 
was heartily sorry, detesting the same with all his heart. 

After this, and such like answers, Bonner (the better to try 



ROBERT WILLIAMS, AND OTHERS. 279 

him) persuaded him to go to confession. The lad, somewhat 
to fulfil his request, consented to go, and did. But when he 
came to the priest, he stood still, and said nothing. Why, quoth 
the priest, sayest thou nothing ? What shall I say ? said Harris. 
Thou must confess thy sins, said the priest. My sins, said he, 
be so many that they cannot be numbered. With that the priest 
told Bonner what he had said : and he, of his accustomed devo- 
tion, took the poor lad into his garden, and there, with a rod, 
taken off from a cherry-tree, did most cruelly whip him. 

THE SCOURGING OF ROBERT WILLIAMS, A SMITH. 

Robert Williams, being apprehended in the same company, 
was so tormented after the same manner with rods in his arbor, 
who there subscribing and yielding himself by promise to obey 
the laws, after being let go, refused to go : whereupon he was 
earnestly sought for, but could not be found, for that he kept 
himself close, and went not abroad but by stealth : and now in 
the mean time of his persecution, this Robert Williams departed 
this life, and so escaped the hands of his enemies. The Lord 
therefore be honored forever, Amen. 

THE WHIPPING OF A BEGGAR AT SALISBURY. 

Unto these above specified, is also to be added the miserable 
whipping of a poor starved beggar, who, because he would not 
receive the sacrament at Easter, in the town of Colingborow, 
was brought to Salisbury, with bills and glieves, to the 
chancellor Dr. Geffery, who cast him into the dungeon, and 
after caused him miserably to be whipped by two catch-poles. 
The sight whereof made all godly hearts to rue it, to see such 
tyranny to be showed upon such a simple and silly wretch : for 
they that saw him have reported, that they never saw a more 
simple creature. But what pity can move the hearts of merci- 
less papists ? 

THE PERSECUTION OF ELIZABETH LAWSON. 

In the town of Bedford, in the county of Suffolk, dwelt an 
ancient godly matron, named Elizabeth Lawson, about the 
age of sixty years, who was apprehended as a heretic by the 
constables of the same town, named Robert Kitrich, and Thomas 
Elas, in the year 1556, because she would not go to church to 
hear mass, and receive the sacrament, and believe in it. 

First, they laid her in a dungeon, and after that she was car- 
ried into Norwich, and from thence to Bury jail, where at last 
she was condemned to be burnt. In the mean time Sir John 



280 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

Sylliard had her home unto his house, he being high sheriff 
that year, where she was hardly kept, and wrapped in irons, 
till at length, when they could by no means move her to recant, 
she was sent to prison again, with shameful revilings. 

Thus she continued in prison the space of two years and 
three quarters. In the mean time there were burnt her son 
and many more, whereby she would often say, " Good Lord, 
what is the cause that I may not yet come to thee with thy chil- 
dren ? Well, good Lord, thy blessed will be done, and not mine." 

Not long after this (most happily) followed the death of queen 
Mary, after whom succeeded queen Elizabeth. At which time 
this Elizabeth Lawson remained yet still in Bury prison, till at 
last she was bailed upon sureties, or else she could not be de- 
livered. For she being a condemned person, neither the tem- 
porality, nor yet spiritual authority would discharge her without 
sureties. Now she being abroad, and her sureties made afraid 
by wicked men, said, they would cast her again in prison, ex- 
cept she would see them discharged. 

Then she got a supplication to go unto the queen's majesty, 
and came to a friend of her's, to have his counsel therein ; who 
willed her to stay awhile, because she was old, the days short, 
the expenses great, and weather foul, (for it was a little before 
Christmas,) and to tarry until summer. In the mean time God 
broke the bond, and shortened her journey ; for he took her 
home to himself out of this life in peace. 

This good old woman, long before she went to prison, had 
the falling sickness, and told a friend of her's, one Simon Harl- 
ston, after she was apprehended, that she never had it more, but 
lived in good health and joy of heart, through our Lord Christ. 

She had a very unkind husband, who, while she was in pris- 
on, sold her raiment, and would not help her ; and after she 
was out of prison, she returned home unto him, yet would he 
show her no kindness, nor help her neither; and yet the house 
and land that he dwelt in he had by her; wherefore as long as 
she lived she was maintained by the congregation. 

The said Elizabeth Lawson also had a sister, wife to one 
Robert Hollon, in Mickfield, in the same county of Suffolk, who 
likewise was persecuted and driven out from house to house, 
and a young man, her son, with her, because they would not go 
to the church to hear mass, and receive the sacrament of the altar. 

PERSECUTION OF THOMAS CHRISTENMASS, AND WILLIAM WATS. 

In this perilous age of queen Mary's reign were two men 
persecuted, one called Thomas Christenmass, the other Wil- 



CHRISTENMASS AND WATS. 281 

liam Wats, of Tunbridge, in Kent. As these two men traveled 
from place to place, not resting two nights together in one place, 
they happened to go to Rochester, in Kent, where they at the 
town's end met with a damsel of eight years of age, but whither 
she went they knew not. It was then night, and they being 
weary, were willing to lie in the same town, but could not tell 
where, they feared so the bloody Catholics. At last they devised 
to ask the damsel whether there were any heretics in the town, 
or no ? and she said, Yea. They asked her where. She an- 
swered them, At such an inn, telling them the name, and where 
the inn was. Shortly after, as they were gone from her, they 
bethought themselves better, and God so moving their hearts, 
they went to the child again, and asked her how she knew that 
the inn -keeper (of whom she spake before) was a heretic. Mar- 
ry, quoth she, well enough, and his wife also. How knowest 
thou, pretty maiden? said they. I pray thee tell us. How 
know I ? said she ; marry, because they go to the church ; and 
those that will not hold up their hands there, they will present 
them, and he himself goes from house to house, to compel them 
to come to church. When these two men heard this, they gave 
God praise, and avoided that house, taking the warning of that 
maid (of good bringing up, as it should seem) to be God's mar- 
vellous providence towards them. 

In the last year but one of queen Mary's reign, William Wats 
lived at Seale, in Kent, where being apprehended, and brought 
by the constables before the bishop and justices at Tunbridge, 
they endeavored to persuade him to turn from the truth, but all 
in vain, though they spent much time, and used many flattering 
words. 

At dinner-time the constables took Wats to a victualling- 
house, where, after they had well filled themselves, they fell 
asleep, supposing their prisoner had been sure enough under 
their hands. Wats's wife being in the house with her husband, 
and very careful for his well-doing, seeing them all fast asleep, 
desired her husband to go away, as God had given him an op- 
portunity : but he refused so long that at last a stranger hearing 
something of the dispute, asked what the matter was, and why 
she was so earnest with her husband : the wife told him. Then 
said the stranger to Wats, Father, go thy ways, in God's name, 
and tarry no longer : the Lord hath opened the way unto thee. 
Upon which words he went his way, and his wife departed 
from him, and went home to her house at Seale, thinking her 
husband had gone another way. Now as she was going in at 
the door, telling her friends of his deliverance, immediatelvcame 
24* 



282 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

in the said Wats also, and they all being amazed thereat, willed 
him in all haste to get him away ; for they thought there would 
be search for him immediately. 

Then Wats said, he would eat meat first, and also pray ; 
which he did, and afterwards departed thence. As soon as he 
was out of doors, and had hid himself in a holly-busb, immedi- 
ately came the said constables, with thirty persons, into the said 
house, to search for him, where they pierced the feather-beds, 
broke open his chests, and made great havoc ; and as they were 
searching, the constable cried, I will have "Wats, I will have 
Wats, I tell thee. I will have Wats : but God be thanked, Wats 
could not be found. And when they saw it needless to search 
for him, in the end they took his wife, and set her in a pair of 
stocks, where she remained two days, and she was very bold in 
the truth, and at last delivered through the providence of God ; 
whose name be glorified in all his works. Amen. 

MR. DABNEY: 

There was at London a certain godly person, a painter, 
named Dabney. whom John Avales, in the time of queen Mary, 
had brought before Bonner to be examined for his faith. It hap- 
pened the same time, when the said Dabney was there, that the 
bishop was occupied with the examination of others, so that he 
was bid to stand by, and to wait the bishop's leisure. Upon the 
same, or not long after, suddenly came word to the bishop* to 
prepare him with all speed, the general procession tarried 
for him. The bishop hearing that, setting all business apart, 
bustleth himself with all possible speed to the church, there to 
furnish procession. By reason whereof, Dabney, who newly 
came to the house, was there left alone, while every man else 
was busied in preparing and setting themselves forward, ac- 
cording as the case required. 

To be short, at the time called on, Bonner w T ith his household 
makes all possible haste to the procession. Dabney being left 
alone, came down to the outward court, next the gate, there 
walking heavily by himself, looking for nothing less than to 
escape that danger. The porter, who was only left at home, 
seeing the man walk alone, supposing he had been some citizen 
left there behind, and waiting for opening the gate, went and 
opened the wicket, asking if he would go out. Yea, said he, 
with a good will, if you will let me out. With all my heart, 
quoth the porter, and I pray you so do. 

And thus the said Dabney taking the opportunity offered of 
God, being let out by the porter, escaped out of the wolf's 






ALEXANDER W1MH0RST. 283 

snouth. The procession being done, when the bishop returned 
3home, Dabney was gone, and could not be found ; whereupon 
search was made, but especially John A vales laid wait for 
him : who, after long searching, when he could not get him, at 
length received fifteen crowns of his wife to let him alone when 
he should see him, and so that good man escaped. 

ALEXANDER WIMHURST, PRIEST, 

A like example of God almighty's goodness towards his af- 
flicted servants, in that dangerous time of persecution, may also 
appear evidently in one Alexander Wimhurst, a priest, some- 
time of Magdalen college, in Oxford, and then a papist, but 
since an earnest enemy to Antichrist, and a man better instruct- 
ed in the true fear of God. It happened that else had recom- 
mended him to bishop Bonner for religion, upon what occasion 
I do not understand. According to the old manner in such 
■cases provided, he sent forth Robin Caly, otherwise called 
Robin Papist, one of his whelps, to bring in the game, and to 
cause this silly poor man to appear before him. Little Robin, 
like a proper man. bestirreth him in this business, and smell- 
cth him out, and when he had taken him, bringeth him along 
by Cheapside, not suffering him to talk with any of his acquaint- 
ance by the way, though they were some of his old friends of 
Oxford that offered to speak unto him. 

When they came into St. Paul's, he espied Dr. Chedsey 
there, walking up and down, and, because he was able in such a 
case to do pleasure, and for that he had been of his old acquaint- 
ance in Oxford, he was very desirous to speak to him ere he 
went through. Chedsey, perceiving that Robin Caly did at- 
tend upon him, said, that he durst not meddle in the matter. 
Yes, (said little Robin,) you may talk with him, if it please you, 
master Doctor. To be short, Alexander opened his case, and in 
the end desired, for old acquaintance sake, that he would find 
means he might be brought before Dr. Martin to be examined, 
rather than any other. Nay, said he, {alleging the words of 
Christ unto Peter, in the last chapter of St. John,) you remember, 
brother, what is written in the gospel : " When thou wast young, 
thou didst gird thyself, and wentest whither thou wouldst ; but 
being aged, other men shall gird thee, and lead thee whither 
thou wouldst not." Thus abusing the Scripture to his private 
meaning, whereas notwithstanding he might easily have accom- 
plished so small a request, if he had liked it. So they com- 
manded him to prison. And now mark well the providence of 
God in his preservation. 



SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

He was brought into Cluny's house, in Paternoster-row, from 
thence to be carried to Lollards' Tower, out of hand, but that 
Cluny, (as it happened,) his wife, and his maid, were so earn- 
estly occupied about present business, that they had not leisure 
then to lock up their prisoner. In the hall where Alexander 
sat was a strange woman, whose husband was then presently in 
trouble for religion, which perceived by some occasion or other, 
that this man was brought in for the like cause. Alack, good 
man, saith she, if you will you may escape the cruel hands of 
your enemies, forasmuch as they be all away that should look 
unto you. God hath opened the way unto you for deliverance, 
and therefore lose not the opportunity thereof, if you be wise. 
Being persuaded with these and such like words, he went out 
of the doors, and escaped their hands. 

MRS. BOSOM. 

This good woman being at Richmond with her mother, was 
greatly urged to go to church. At length, through great im- 
portunity, she came ; being in the church, and sitting with her 
mother in the pew, contrary in all things to the doings of the 
papists, she behaved herself so, that when they kneeled she 
stood, when they turned forward, she turned backward, &c. 

This being notorious in the church, the constable and church- 
warden attacked her in the qeeen's name, charging her and her 
mother to appear the next day at Kingston, which accordingly 
they did, and happening to meet the officers, saluted them by 
their names, but at that time had no power to speak to them, 
though afterwards they stampt and stared, and were mad with 
themselves for letting them pass. Whereupon the good woman 
taking her journey to London, escaped their cruelty. 

JOHN DAVIS, A BOY. 

In the year 1546, the last year of king Henry the Eighth, 
John Davis, a child of less than twelve years of age, who dwelt 
in the house of Mr. Johnson, apothecary, in the town of 
Worcester, his uncle, using sometimes to read in the Testament, 
and other English books, was complained of by his mistress, 
who was an obstinate person, and consulted with one Thomas 
Parton, and Alice Brook, wife to Nicholas Brook, organ-maker, 
with certain of the canons, and Mr. Johnson, chancellor to Dr. 
Heath, their bishop. Whereupon Thomas Parton came to ap- 
prehend him, and his uncle was forced against his will to bind 
the poor boy's arms behind him : and so he was brought to the 
officers of the town, who committed him to prison, where he lay 



MRS. ROBERTS, 285 

from the 14th of August till the last day of September. He was 
then removed from thence to an inner prison, called Peephole, 
where one Joyliffand Yewer, two canons, who had his writings 
against the six articles, and his ballad, called " Come down for 
all your shaven crown," came to see whether he would stand to 
that he had written. Which done, with many great, raging 
words, not long after sat Mr. Johnson, the chancellor, in the 
Guildhall, upon the poor lad. Where first were brought in his 
accusers, and sworn ; then were sworn also twenty-four men 
which went on his quest, and found him guilty : but he never 
came before the chancellor. Upon this he was sent to the 
common jail, among thieves and murderers, there to tarry the 
coming of the judges, and so to be had straight to execution. 
But the mighty mercy of the Lord, who helpeth the desolate 
and miserable, when all other help is past, so provided for this 
innocent lad, that the purpose of all his hard-hearted enemies 
was disappointed : for before the judges came, God took away 
Henry VIII. out of this life. By reason whereof the force of 
the law was then stayed : however, he was nevertheless arraign- 
ed, being held up in a man's arms at the bar before the judges, 
who were Portman and Marven : who, when they perceived 
that they could not burn him, would have him presently whip- 
ped. But Mr. Bourne declared to the judges, how he had had 
whipping enough. After that he had lain a week more in pris- 
on, he had him home to his house, his wife 'anointed his legs 
herself with ointment, which were then stiff and numbed with 
irons, till at length, when Mr. Bourne and his wife saw they 
could not win him to the belief of their sacrament, they put him 
away, lest he should infect their son Antony, as they thought, 
with heresy. 

Thus John Davis was mercifully preserved, after he had 
suffered imprisonment from the 14th day of August till within 
seven days of Easter, who is yet alive, and a profitable minister 
this day in the church of England: blessed be the Lord* 

MRS. ROBERTS. 

Mrs. Roberts, a gentlewoman, living (as I understand) in 
the town of Hawkhurst, in Sussex, being earnestly addicted to 
the truth of the gospel, and no less constant in that which she 
had learned therein, so kept herself during all the brunt of queen 
Mary's time, that she never came to their popish service, nor 
polluted her conscience with their idolatrous mass. There 
dwelt at the same time not far off a justice, called Sir John 
Gilford, who being as fervent on the contrary side to set forward 



286 SUFFERINGS OF EAELY CHRISTIANS. 

the proceedings of queen Mary, thought to prove masteries with 
this gentlewoman, by forcing her into the church. And first 
sending his wife, he tempted her, by fair words and gentle per- 
suasions, to conform herself to the prince's laws, and to come, 
as other Christian people did, to the church. Notwithstanding, 
she constantly persisting in the sincerity of the truth, would by 
no persuasions be won to do therein against her conscience ; 
and so kept at home a certain time, till again Mr. Gilford, think- 
ing not to give her over so, sent his officers and servants to her, 
by force and power to haul her out of her house to the church, 
and so did. Where, by the way, She, for grief of conscience, 
swooned, and so of necessity was brought home again, and 
falling into an ague, was for that time dispensed with. When 
she had recovered her health again, he came in person to com- 
pel her to come to church, whether she would or no. But (as 
the proverb goeth) who can prevent that which God would have 
done ? For when Mr. Gilford had purposed as pleased him, 
the Lord so disposed for this good woman, that as he was com- 
ing up stairs towards her chamber, suddenly his old disease, the 
gout, seized him, and so terribly tormented him, that he could 
go no fu^her : and so he, that purposed to carry her to the 
church agifcnst her will, was forced himself to be carried home 
to his house on account of his pain, protesting and swearing 
that he would never from henceforth trouble that gentlewoman 
more ; and no more he did. 

MRS. ANNE LACY. 

Mrs. Anne Lacy, widow, in Nottinghamshire, was in great 
danger in queen Mary's time, insomuch that the process was 
out against her, and she ready to have been apprehended, being 
so nearly pursued, that she was driven to hide her Bible and 
other books in a dunghill. Mr. Lacy, her brother, was then 
justice of peace ; but to whom (as I have heard) she was but 
very little beholden. Nevertheless, where kindred faileth, yet 
God's grace never faileth such as stick to him : for in this mean 
time, as the process came out against her, queen Mary died, and 
so she escaped. 

MRS. CROSSMAN. 

She lived at Tibnam Longrow, in Norfolk, and for not going 
to church was sought for at her house by the constable of the 
hundred, who, when he came to her house, she being at home 
with a child sucking in her arms, stept into a corner on one 
side of the chimney, and they seeking about the chambers, the 



JUDGMENT ON THE PERSECUTORS. 287 

child never cried (although before they came it did) as long as 
they were there, and so by this means the Lord preserved her. 



To render this part of our History complete, we give the fol- 
lowing Treatise of our Author, concerning the judgments 
which the Almighty inflicted on many of those who had 
persecuted the Protestants during the reign of Mary. 

THE SEVERE PUNISHMENT OB' GOD UPON THE PERSECUTORS OF HIS 
PEOPLE AND SUCH AS HAVE BEEN BLASPHEMERS, &c. 

Queen Mary being dead and gone, we will now leave her, 
and treat of those under her who were the chief instruments in 
this persecution, the bishops and clergy, to whom she, as a true 
Catholic, gave all the execution of her power. Touching which 
prelates and priests, here is to be noted in like manner the mira- 
culous providence of almighty God, which as he shortened the 
reign of their queen, so he suffered them not to escape un visited ; 
first beginning with Stephen Gardiner, the arch-persecutor, 
whom he took away about the midst of the queen's reign. 

After him dropped away others also, some before the death 
of queen Mary, and some after, as Morgan, bishop of St. Da- 
vid's, who sitting upon the condemnation of bishop Farrer, and 
unjustly usurping his room, not long after was struck by God's 
hand in a strange manner by inverting of nature, and so he 
continued till his death. 

And when Mr. Leyson, the sheriff at bishop Farrer's burning, 
had brought away the cattle of the said bishop, from his ser- 
vant's house into his own custody, on coming into the sheriff's 
ground, divers of them would never eat meat, but lay bellowing 
and roaring, and so died. 

Bishop Thornton, suffragan of Dover, who exercised his 
cruel tyranny upon so many pious men at Canterbury, on a 
Sunday, fell suddenly into a palsy, and so had to bed, was 
willed to remember God. Yea, so I do, said he, and my lord 
cardinal too, &c. 

Another bishop or suffragan of Dover, ordained by the afore- 
said cardinal, broke his neck, falling down a pair of stairs in 
the cardinal's chamber at Greenwich, as he had received the 
cardinal's blessing. 

John Cooper, of the age of forty-four years, at Watsam in 
Suffolk, a carpenter by trade, a man of very honest report, being 



288 SUFFERINGS OF EARLV CHRISTIANS, 

at home, there came unto him one William Fenning, a serving** 
man of the same place, to buy a couple of fat bullocks, which 
he had brought up for his own use, on refusing to sell them, 
went and accused him of high treason. Though he flatly- 
denied the words imputed to him, and said he never spoke 
them, that did not avail ; for he was arraigned at Bury, before 
Sir Clement Higham, at a Lent assize, and there this Fenning 
brought two vile men, that witnessed to the speaking of the 
treason, Richard White, of Watsam, and Grimwood, of Hitcham, 
in the said county of Suffolk, and was sentenced to be hanged, 
drawn, and quartered, which was accordingly performed soon 
after, to the great grief of many a good heart. 

Now, when this innocent man was dead, his goods spoiled, 
his wife and children left desolate and comfortless, and all 
things hushed, nothing was feared of any part ; but in the har- 
vest following, as Grimwood was at his labor, stacking up a 
goff of corn, being in health, and fearing no danger, suddenly 
his bowels fell out of his body, and he most miserably died : 
such was the terrible judgment of God, to show his displeasure 
against his bloody act. 

Mr. Woodroffe, the sheriff, at Mr. Bradford's death, used 
much to rejoice at the death of the poor saints of Christ, but he 
h-cid not come out of his office a week, before he was stricken 
suddenly by the hand of God ; the one-half of his body was in 
such a condition, that he lay benumbed and bed-ridden, not able 
to move himself, but as he was lifted by others ; and he con- 
tinued in that infirmity seven or eight years, till his dying day. 

There was a certain bailiff, of Crowland, in Lincolnshire, 
named Burton, who pretending an earnest friendship for the 
gospel in king Edward's days, set forth the king's proceedings 
lustily, till the time that king Edward was dead; then perceiv- 
ing how the world was like to turn, the bailiff turned his reli- 
gion likewise ; and so he moved the parish to show themselves 
the queen's friends, and to set up the mass speedily. 

But when he saw his words were not regarded, and purpos- 
ing to win his spurs by playing the man in the mass's behalf 
and the queen's, he got him to church upon a Sunday morning, 
when the curate was beginning the English service, according 
to the statute set forth by king Edward the Sixth ; the bailiff 
cometh in a great rage to the curate, and saith, Sirrah, will you 
not say mass? Buckle yourself to mass, you knave, or by 
God's blood I shall sheathe my dagger in your shoulder. The 
poor curate for fear was obliged to comply. 

Not long after this, he was seized with a violent illness, which 



JUDGMENT ON THE PERSECUTORS. 289 

continued but a few days, when with extreme pain of vomiting 
and crying, he desperately died, without any token of repentance 
of his former life. 

As James Abbes was led by the sheriff towards his martyr- 
dom, divers poor people stood in the way, and asked their alms. 
He could only exhort them to be strong in the Lord, and, as 
faithful followers of Christ, to stand steadfast unto the truth of 
the gospel, which he (through God's help) would then in their 
sight seal and confirm with his blood. 

After the fire was put unto him, one of the sheriff's servants, 
who had been blaspheming, was there presently, in the sight of 
all the people, stricken with a frenzy, wherewith he had before 
most railingly charged that good martyr of God, who in this 
furious rage and madness casting off his shoes with all the rest 
of his clothes, cried out unto the people and said, Thus did 
James Abbes the true servant of God, who is saved, but I am 
damned. And thus ran he round about the town of Bury, still 
crying out, that James Abbes was a good man and saved, but 
he was damned. 

The priest of the parish being sent for, brought with him the 
crucifix, and their houseling host of the altar. Which when 
the poor wretch saw, he cried out that he, with such others as 
he was, was the cause of his damnation, and that James Abbes 
was a good man and saved. And so shortly after died. 

Alexander, the keeper of Newgate, a cruel enemy to those 
that lay there for religion, died very miserably, being so rotten 
within, that no man could abide the smell. 

His son James, having left unto him by his father great sub- 
stance, within three years wasted all to naught: and when 
some marvelled how he spent these goods so fast : O said he, 
evil gotten, evil spent ; and shortly after in Newgate market 
fell down suddenly, and wretchedly died. 

John Peter, his son-in-law, a horrible blasphemer of God, 
and no less cruel to the prisoners, rotted away and miserably 
died. Who commonly, when he would affirm any thing, were 
it true or false, used to say, If it be not true, I pray God I rot 
ere I die. 

Stephen Gardiner himself, after so long professing the doc- 
trine of papistry, when there came a bishop to him on his death- 
bed, and put him in remembrance of Peter denying his master; 
he answering again, said, that he had denied with Peter, but 
never repented with Peter, and so both stinkingly and unrepent- 
ingly died, thereby giving an evident example to all men, to 
understand that popery rather is a doctrine of desperation, pro* 
25 



290 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS, 

curing the vengeance of almighty God to them that wilfully do 
cleave unto it. 

Dr. Story, being an Englishman by birth, and from his infancy 
being not only nursed in papistry, but also even as it were by 
nature earnestly affected to the same, and growing somewhat in 
riper years, in the days of queen Mary became a bloody tyrant, 
and cruel persecutor of Christ in his members (as all the histo- 
ries in this book almost do declare.) Thus he raging all the 
reign of the aforesaid queen Mary against the infallible truth of 
Christ's gospel, and the true professors thereof, never ceasing 
till he had consumed to ashes two or three hundred blessed 
martyrs, who willingly gave their lives for the testimony of his 
truth; and thinking their punishment in the fire not cruel 
enough, he went about to invent new torments for the holy 
martyrs of Christ, such was his hatred to the truth of Christ's 
gospel : but in the end the Lord God looking upon the affliction 
and cruel blood-shedding of his servants, took away queen Mary, 
the great pillar of papistry. After whom succeeded lady Eliza- 
beth, now queen of England, who staying the bloody sword of 
persecution from raging any further, caused the same Dr. Story 
to be apprehended, and committed to ward, with many others 
his accomplices, sworn enemies to Christ's glorious gospel. 
The said Story having been awhile detained in prison, at last, 
by what means I know not, got out, and conveyed himself over 
the seas, where he continued a most bloody persecutor, still 
raging against God's saints with fire and sword. Insomuch as 
he growing to be familiar and right dear to the duke of Alva, 
in Antwerp, received special commission from him to search the 
ships for goods forfeited, and for English books, and such like. 

And in this favor and authority he continued there for a time, 
by which means he did much hurt, and brought many a good 
man and woman into trouble and extreme peril of life through 
his bloodthirsty cruelty; but at last the Lord (when the meas- 
ure of his iniquity was full) proceeded in judgment against him, 
and cut him off from the face of the earth, according to the 
prayers of many a good man ; which came to pass in order as 
followeth. It being certainly known (for the report thereof was 
gone forth into all lands) that he not only intended the subver- 
sion and overthrow of his native country of England, by bring- 
ing in foreign hostility, if by any means he might encompass 
it ; but also daily and hourly murdered God's people ; there 
was this platform laid (by God's providence, no doubt) that one 
Mr. Parker, a merchant, should sail unto Antwerp, and by some 
means convey Story into England. 



JUDGMENT ON THE PERSECUTORS. 291 

This Parker arriving at Antwerp, suborned certain to repair to 
Dr. Story, and to signify unto him, that there was an English 
ship come, loaded with merchandise, and that if he would make 
search thereof himself, he should find store of English books, 
and other things for his purpose. Story hearing this, and sus- 
pecting nothing, made haste towards the ship, thinking to make 
the same his prey: and coming on board, searched for English 
heretical books (as he called them ;) and going down under the 
hatches, because he would be sure to have their blood if he 
could, they clapped down the hatches, hoisted up their sail, 
having (as God would) a good gale, and sailed away unto Eng- 
land. Where they arriving, presented this bloody butcher, and 
traitorous rebel, Story, to the no little rejoicing of many an 
English heart. He being now committed to prison, continued 
there a good space : during all which time he was importuned 
and solicited daily by wise and learned fathers to recant his 
devilish and erroneous opinions, to conform himself to the truth, 
and to acknowledge the queen's supremacy. All which he 
utterly denied to the death, saying, that he was a sworn subject 
to the king of Spain, and was no subject to the queen of Eng- 
land, nor she his sovereign queen; and therefore (as he well 
deserved) he was condemned (as a traitor to God, the queen's 
majesty, and the realm) to be drawn, hanged, and quartered; 
which was performed accordingly, he being laid upon a hurdle, 
and drawn from the Tower along the streets to Tyburn, where 
he being hanged till he was half dead, was cut down and strip- 
ped ; and (which is not to be forgot) when the executioner had 
cut off his privy members, he rushing up upon a sudden, gave 
him a blow upon the ear, to the great wonder of all that stood 
by; and thus ended this bloody Nimrod's wretched life, whose 
judgment I leave to the Lord. * 

And thus mueh concerning those persecutors. 

The persecuting clergy who died in the time of persecution, 
we shall take no notice of but those who remained after the 
death of queen Mary were deprived, and committed to several 
prisons. 

In the Tower. 

Nicholas Heath, archbishop of York and lord chancellor; 
Thomas Thirlby, bishop of Ely ; Thomas Watson, bishop of 
Lincoln ; Gilbert Bourne, bishop of Bath and Wells ; Richard 
Pates, bishop of Worcester; Troublefield, bishop of Exeter; 
John Fecknam, abbot of Westminster ; and John Boral, dean 
«stf Windsor and Peterborough. 



292 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

Of David Pool, bishop of Peterborough, it is not known 
whether he was in the Tower, or in some other prison. 

Goldwell, bishop of St. Asaph, and Maurice, elect of Bangor, 
ran away. 

Edmund Bonner, bishop of London, in the Marshalsea. 

Thomas Wood, bishop elect, in the Marshalsea. 

Cuthbert Scot, bishop of Chester, was in the Fleet, from 
whence he escaped to Louvain, and there died. 

In the Fleet. 
Henry Cole, dean of St. Paul's. 

John Harpsfield, archdeacon of London, and dean of Norwich. 
Nicholas Harpsfield, archdeacon of Canterbury. 
Anthony Draycot, archdeacon of Huntingdon. 
William Chedsey, archdeacon of Middlesex. 

In the beginning of king Edward's reign Dr. Chedsey re- 
canted, and subscribed to thirty-four articles, wherein he fully 
consented and agreed, with his own hand-writing, to the whole 
form of doctrine approved and allowed then in the church. So 
long as the state of the lord protector and his brother stood up- 
right, his own articles in Latin, written and subscribed with his 
own hand, declare what I have stated. But after the decay of 
the king's uncles, his religion turned withal, and he took upon 
him to dispute with Peter Martyr, in upholding tran substantia- 
tion, at Oxford, which a little before with his own hand- writing 
he had overthrown. 

In the first year of Elizabeth, one William Mauldon was 
bound servant to one Mr. Hugh Aparry, then a wheat-taker for 
the queen, dwelling at Greenwich; who found a primer in 
English, wherein he read on a winter's evening. While he 
was reading, there sat one John Apowel, who mocked after 
every word, that he could no longer abide him for grief of heart, 
but turned to him and said, John, take heed what thou dost : 
thou dost not mock me, but thou mockest God. 

Then Mauldon fell to reading again, and still he proceeded 
on his mocking; and when Mauldon had read certain English 
prayers, in the end he read, Lord have mercy upon us, Christ 
have mercy upon us, &c. This was checked by a sudden fear, 
and on the morrow, about eight o'clock in the morning, John 
came running down out of his chamber in his shirt into the 
hall, when they bound him, as being out of his right mind. 

After that, as he lay, almost a day and a night, his tongue 
never ceased, but he cried out of the devil of hell. And his 



JUDGMENT ON THE PERSECUTORS. 293 

tvords were, O the devil of hell, now the devil of hell, I see the 
devil of hell, there he is, there he goeth, &c. 

Thus he lay without amendment six days, that his master 
and all the family being weary of the noise, agreed with the 
keepers of Bedlam, and sent him thither. 

This is a terrible example to all mockers of God : therefore 
repent and amend, lest the vengeance of God fall upon you in 
like manner. 

The same William Mauldon chanced afterwards to dwell 
near London, at Walthamstow, where his wife taught young 
children to read, which was about the year of our Lord 1563, 
and trie fourth year of queen Elizabeth's reign. Unto this 
school, amongst other children, came one Benifield's daughter, 
named Dennis, about the age of twelve years. 

As these children were talking together, they happened, 
among other talk, (as the nature of children is to be busy with 
many things,) to fall into communication of God, and to reason 
amongst themselves, after their childish discretion, what he 
should be. When one of the children had said, He was a good 
old Father, Dennis Bennifield said, He is an old doting fool. 

When Mauldon heard of these abominable words of the girl, 
he desired his wife to correct her for the same ; which was ap- 
pointed to be done the next day ; but when the morrow came, 
her mother would needs send her to London market. The girl 
greatly entreated her mother that she might not go; but she 
was forced to go. And what happened ? Her business being 
done at London, as she was returning again homeward, a little 
beyond Hackney, she was suddenly struck on one side, which 
turned black, and she was speechless, and being carried back to 
Hackney, there died the same night. Witness of the same, 
William Mauldon and his wife, also Benifield her father and 
mother. 

Therefore, let all young maids, boys, and young men, take 
example by this wretched creature, not only to avoid blasphem- 
ing the sacred Majesty of the omnipotent God, their Creator, 
but also not once to take his name in vain, as they are taught 
in his commandments. 

Secondly, let all fathers, godfathers, and godmothers, take 
this for a warning, to see the instruction and catechising of their 
children, for whom they have bound themselves in promise both 
to God and to his church. 

Thirdly, let all blind atheists, epicures, and mockers of reli- 
gion, who say in their hearts, there is no God, learn also hereby 
not only what God is, and what he is able to do, but also in this 
25* 



294 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

miserable creature here punished in this world, behold what 
shall likewise fall on them in the world to come, unless they 
will be warned betimes by such examples as the Lord doth give 
them. 

Fourthly and lastly, here may also be a spectacle for all those 
who are blasphemers and abominable swearers, abusing his 
glorious name in a contemptuous manner: whom, if neither the 
command of God, nor the calling of the preacher, nor remorse 
of conscience, nor rule of reason, nor their withering age, nor 
hoary hairs, will admonish, let these terrible examples of God's 
strict judgment somewhat move them to take heed to them- 
selves. 

FOREIGN EXAMPLES OF GOD'S JUDGMENT AGAINST PERSECUTORS, fee* 

Hoimeister, the great arch-papist, and chief master-pillar of 
the pope's falling church, as he was on his journey towards the 
council of Ratisbon, to dispute against the defenders of Christ's 
gospel, suddenly in his journey, not far from Ulmes, was pre- 
vented by the stroke of God's hand, and there miserably died, 
with horrible roaring and crying out. 

Another example we have, of one Arnoldus Bomelius, a 
young man of the university of Louvain, well commended for 
his flourishing wit and ripeness of learning, who, whilst he 
favored the cause of the gospel, and took part with the same 
against the enemies of the truth, prospered and went well for- 
ward; but after he drew to the company of Tyleman, master 
of the pope's college in Louvain, and framed himself after the 
rule of his unsavory doctrine, that is, to stand in fear and doubt 
of his justification, and to work his salvation by merits and 
deeds of the law, he began more and more to grow in doubtful 
despair and discomfort of mind ; as the nature of that doctrine 
is, utterly to pluck away a man's mind from all certainty and 
true liberty of spirit, to a servile doubtfulness, full of discomfort 
and bondage of soul. 

Thus the young man, seduced and perverted through this 
blind doctrine of ignorance and dubitation, fell into a great agony 
of mind, wandering and wrestling in himself a long time, till at 
length being overcome with despair, and not having in the 
popish doctrine wherewith to raise up his soul, he went out of 
the city on a time to walk, accompanied by three other students 
of the same university, his especial familiars. As they returned 
home again, Arnoldus, through fatigue, as it seemed, sat down 
by a spring side to rest himself: thinking no ill, went for- 
wards, and in the mean time Arnoldus suddenly took out his 



JUDGMENT ON THE PERSECUTORS. 295 

dagger, and struck himself into the body with so much violence 
that he died almost immediately. 

Johannes Sieidanus, in his 23d book, giveth a relation of 
Cardinal Crescentius, the chief president and moderator of 
the council of Trent, anno 1552. The story of whom is certain, 
the thing that happened to hirn was strange and notable, the 
example of him may be profitable to others, such as have grace 
to be warned by other men's evils. 

The twenty-fifth day of March, in the year aforesaid, C 
centius, the pope's legate, and vicegerent in the council of 
Trent, was sitting all day long until dark night, in writing let- 
ters to the popo. After "his labor, when night was corne, think- 
ing to refresh himself, he began to rise ; behold, there appeared 
unto him a mighty black dog, of a huge bigness, his 
shining with fire, and his ears hanging down well near to the 
ground, and straight began to come towards him, and crouched 
under the table. The cardinal, not a little surprised at the sight 
of, somewhat recovering himself, called to his servants, 
who were in the outward chamber next by, to bring in a candle, 
and to seek for the dog. But when the dog could not be found, 
neither there, nor in any other chamber about, the cardinal 
thereupon struck with a sudden conceit of mind, immediately 
fell into such a sickness, that his physicians which he had about 
him, with all their art and industry, could not cure him. And 
so in the town of Verona died this popish cardinal, the pope's 
holy legate, and president of this council, wherein his purpose 
was (as Sleidan saith) to recover and heal again the whole 
authority and doctrine of the Eomish see, and to set it up for 
ever. 

There were in this council of Trent, besides the pope's le- 

and cardinals, twenty -four bishops, doctors of divinity 

-two. And thus was the end of this popish council, by 

the provident hand of the Almighty, despatched and brought to 

naught. 

The council of Trent being thus dissolved by the death of 
this cardinal, was afterwards, notwithstanding, collected again 
about the year of our Lord 1562, against the erroneous pro 

of which council other writers there be thai ough. 

So much as pertaineth only to my story, I thought proper here- 
unto to add an account of two adulterous filthy bishops, belong- 
the said council, one of whom resorting to an h 

by the just stroke of God with a boar-spear. T^e 
other bishop, who used to creep through a window, in the same 
window v. ely taken and hanged in a gin laid for him 



296 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

on purpose, and so contrived, that in the morning he was seen 
openly in the street hanging out of the window, to the wonder 
of all that passed by. 

In the city of Antwerp lived one, named John Vander 
Warfe, of good estimation amongst the chief of that place ; 
who, as he was of a cruel nature, so he was of a perverse and 
corrupt judgment, and a sore persecutor of Christ's flock, with 
greediness seeking and shedding innocent blood, and had 
drowned divers good men and women in the water, for which 
he was much commended by the bloody generation. By some 
he was called a bloodhound, or bloody dog. By others he was 
called a shilpad, that is to say, sheltoed, for he, being a short 
grundy, and of little stature, did ride commonly with a great 
broad hat, as a country churl. 

This man being weary of his office, (wherein he had con- 
tinued above twenty years,) he gave it over ; and because he 
was now grown rich and wealthy, he intended to pass the resi- 
due of his life in ease and pleasure. 

About the second year after, he came to Antwerp, to the feast 
called Our Lady's Oumegang, to make merry ; which feast is 
usually kept on the Sunday following the Assumption of our 
Lady. The same day, about four o'clock in the afternoon, he 
being well loaden with wine, rode homewards in his wagon, 
with his wife, and a gentlewoman waiting on her, and his fool. 
As soon as the wagon was come without the gates of the city, 
upon the wooden bridge being at that time made for a shift, 
with rails or barriers on each side for the safety of the passen- 
gers, (about half the height of a man,) the horses stood still, and 
would by no means go forwards, whatsoever the driver of the 
wagon could do. 

Then he cried out to him that guided the wagon, saying, 
Kide on ; in the name of a thousand devils, ride on ! The poor 
man answered, that he could not make the horses go forward. 
By and by, while they were yet talking, suddenly arose, as it 
were, a mighty whirlwind, with a terrible noise, (the weather 
being very fair, and no wind stirring before,) and tost the wagon 
into the town ditch; the ropes that tied the horses being broke 
asunder, in such a manner as if they had been cut with a sharp 
knife ; the wagon being cast also upside down, by the fall 
whereof he had his neck broke, and was swallowed up in the 
mire. His wife was taken up alive, but died in three days 
after. But the gentlewoman and the fool, by God's providence, 
were preserved from harm. The fool hearing the people say 
his master was dead, said, And was not I dead, was not I dead 



JUDGMENT ON THE PERSECUTORS. 297 

too ? This happened in the year 1553. Witness hereof, not 
only the printer of the same story in Dutch, dwelling then in 
Antwerp, whose name was Francis Fraet, a good man, and 
afterwards through hatred was put to death by the papists, but 
also divers other Dutchmen here, in England, and a great num- 
ber of English merchants who were at that time in Antwerp. 

In the year 1565, there was in the town of Gaunt, in Flan- 
ders, one William de Wever, accused and imprisoned by the 
provost of St. Peter's, in Gaunt, (who had in his cloister a 
prison and place of execution,) and the day the said William 
was called to the place of judgment, the provost sent for Mr. 
Giles Braekleman, principal advocate of the council of Flanders, 
and burgh-master and judge of St. Peter's, in Gaunt, with other 
rulers of the town, to sit in judgment upon him ; and as they 
sat in judgment, Mr. Giles Braekleman reasoned with the said 
William de Wever upon divers articles of his faith. One 
whereof was, 

Why he denied that it was lawful to pray to saints ; and he 
answered, For three causes : the one was, That they were but 
creatures, and not the Creator. The second was, 

That if he should call upon them, the Lord did both see it 
and hear it ; and therefore he durst give the glory to none other 
but God. The third and chief cause was, 

That the Creator had commanded in his holy word to call 
upon him in trouble, unto which commandment he durst neither 
add nor take from. 

He also demanded, whether he did not believe that there was 
a purgatory which he should go into after this life, where every 
one should be purified and cleansed. 

He answered, That he had read over the whole Bible, and 
could find no such place, but the death of Christ was his purga- 
tory : with many other questions, proceeding after their order, 
till he came to pronounce his condemnation. But before it was 
read, he was struck with a palsy, that his mouth was almost 
drawn up to his ear, and so he fell down, the rest of the lords 
standing before him, that the people might not see him : and 
the people were desired to depart. Then they took him up 
and carried him to his house, w r here he died the very next day. 
Yet notwithstanding all this, they burnt William de Wever 
within three hours after. 



PERSECUTIONS OF THE PEOTESTANTS IN THE SOUTH 
OF FRANCE DURING THE YEARS 1814 AND 1820. 



The persecution of this Protestant part of France had con- 
tinued with very little intermission from the revocation of the 
edict of Nantes, by Louis XIV., till a very short period previous 
to the commencement of the late French revolution. In the 
year 178-5, M. Rebaut St. Etienne and the celebrated M. de la 
Fayette were among the first persons who interested themselves 
with the court of Louis XVI. in removing the scourge of perse- 
cution from this injured people, the inhabitants of the south of 
France. 

Such was the opposition on the part of the Catholics and the 
courtiers, that it was not till the end of the year 1790, that the 
Protestants were freed from their alarms. Previously to this, 
the Catholics at Nismes, in particular, had taken up arms : 
Nismes then presented a frightful spectacle ; armed men ran 
through the city, fired from the corners of the streets, and at- 
tacked all they met with swords and forks. A man named 
Astuc was wounded and thrown into the Aqueduct; Baudon 
fell under the repeated strokes of bayonets and sabres, and his 
body was also thrown into the water ; Boucher, a young man 
only seventeen years of age, was shot as he was looking out of 
his window ; three electors wounded, one dangerously ; another 
elector, wounded, only escaped death by repeatedly declaring 
he was a Catholic ; a third received four sabre wounds, and was 
taken home dreadfully mangled. The citizens that fled were 
arrested by the Catholics upon the roads, and obliged to give 
proofs of their religion before their lives were granted. M. and 
madame Vogue were at their country house, which the zealots 
broke open, where they massacred both, and destroyed their 
dwelling. M. Blacher, a Protestant, seventy years of age, was 
cut to pieces with a sickle ; young Pyerre, carrying some food 
to his brother, was asked, " Catholic or Protestant?" " Protes- 
tant" being the reply, a monster fired at the lad, and he fell. 
One of the murderer's companions said, " You might as well 
have killed a lamb ;" — " I have sworn," replied he, " to kill four 
Protestants for my share, and this will count for one." How- 
ever, as these atrocities provoked the troops to unite in defence 



FRENCH PERSECUTIONS — 1814 TO 1820. 299' 

of the people, a terrible vengeance was retaliated upon the Cath- 
olic party that had used arms, which, with other circumstances, 
especially the toleration exercised by Napoleon Bonaparte, kept 
them down completely till the year 1814, when the unexpected 
returu of the ancient government rallied them all once more 
round the old banners* 

THE ARRIVAL OF KING LOUIS XVIII. AT PARIS. 

This was known at Nismes on the 14th of April, 1814. In 
a quarter of an hour, the white cockade was seen in every di- 
rection, the white flag floated on all the public buildings, on the 
splendid monuments of antiquity, and even on the tower of 
Magne, beyond the city walls. The Protestants, whose com- 
merce had suffered materially during the war, were among the 
first to unite in the general joy, and to send in their adhesion to 
the senate and the legislative body ; and several of the Protes- 
tant departments sent addresses to the throne : but unfortunate- 
ly, M. Froment was again at Nismes at the moment ; when 
many bigots being ready to join him, the blindness and fury of 
the sijxteenth century rapidly succeeded the intelligence and 
philanthropy of the nineteenth. A line of distinction was in- 
stantly traced between men of different religious opinions : the 
spirit of the old Catholic church was again to regulate each 
person's share of esteem and safety. The difference of religion 
was now to govern every thing else ; and even Catholic domes- 
tics who had served Protestants with zeal and affection, began 
to neglect their duties, or to perform them ungraciously and 
with reluctance. At the fetes and spectacles that were given 
at the public expense, the absence of the Protestants was charged 
on them as a proof of their disloyalty; and in the midst of the 
cries of " Vive le roi" the discordant sounds of " A has le 
maire" down with the mayor, were heard. M. Castelnau was 
a Protestant ; he appeared in public with the prefect M. Poland, 
a Catholic, when potatoes were thrown at him, and the people 
declared that he ought to resign his office. The bigots of 
Nismes even succeeded in procuring an address to be presented 
to the king, stating that there ought to be in France but one 
God, one king, and one faith. In this they were imitated by 
the Catholics of several towns. 

THE HISTORY OF THE SILVER CHILD. 

About this time M. Baron, counsellor of the cour royale of 
Nismes, formed the plan of dedicating to God a silver child, if 
the duchess d'Angouleme would give a prince to France. This 



300 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

project was converted into a public religious vow, which was 
the subject of conversation both public and private, whilst per- 
sons, whose imaginations were inflamed by these proceedings, 
ran about the streets crying " Vivent les Bourbons" or the 
Bourbons forever. In consequence of this superstitious frenzy, 
it is said that, at Alais, women were advised and instigated to 
poison their Protestant husbands, and at length it was found 
convenient to accuse them of political crimes. They could no 
longer appear in public without insults and injuries. When 
the mobs met with Protestants, they seized them and danced 
round them with barbarous joy, and amidst repeated cries of 
" Vive le rot" they sung verses, the burden of which was, " We 
will wash our hands in Protestant blood, and make black pud- 
dings of the blood of Calvin's children." The citizens who 
came to the promenades for air and refreshment, from the close 
and dirty streets, where chased with shouts of " Vive le rot" as 
if those shouts were to justify every excess. If Protestants re- 
ferred to the Charter, they were directly assured it would be of 
no use to them, and that they had only been managed to be 
more effectually destroyed. Persons of rank were heard to 
say in the public streets, "All the Huguenots must be killed; 
this time their children must be killed, that none of the accursed 
race may remain." Still it is true they were not murdered, but 
cruelly treated ; Protestant children could no longer mix in the 
sports of Catholics, and were not even permitted to appear with- 
out their parents. At dark, their families shut themselves up 
in their apartments ; but even then, stones were thrown against 
their windows. When they rose in the morning, it was not 
uncommon to find gibbets drawn on their doors or walls ; and 
in the streets, the Catholics held cords already soaped before 
their eyes, and pointed out the instruments by which they hoped 
and designed to exterminate them. Small gallows or models 
were handed about, and a man who lived opposite to one of the 
pastors, exhibited one of these models in his window, and made 
signs sufficiently intelligible when the minister passed. A 
figure representing a Protestant preacher was also hung up on 
a public crossway ; and the most atrocious songs were sung 
under his window. Towards the conclusion of the carnival, a 
plan had even been formed to make a caricature of the four 
ministers of the place, and burn them in effigy ; but this was 
prevented by the mayor of Nismes, a Protestant. A dreadful 
song presented to the prefect, in the country dialect, with a false 
translation, was printed by his approval, and had a great run 
before he saw the extent of the error into which he had been 



FRENCH PERSECUTIONS — 1814 TO 1820. 301 

betrayed. The sixty-third regiment of the line was publicly 
censured and insulted, for having, according to order, protected 
the Protestants. In fact, the Protestants seemed to be as sheep 
destined for the slaughter* 

NAPOLEON'S RETURN FROM THE ISXE OF ELBA. 

Soon after this event the duke d'Angouleme was at Nismes, 
and remained there some time; but even his influence was 
insufficient to bring about a reconciliation between the Catholics 
and Protestants of that city. During the hundred days betwixt 
Napoleon's return from the Isle of Elba and his final downfall, 
not a single life was lost in Nismes, not a single house was pil- 
laged : only four of the most notorious disturbers of the peace 
were punished, or rather prevented from doing mischief; and 
even this was not an act of the Protestants, but the arrete of the 
Catholic prefect, announced everywhere with the utmost publi- 
city. Some time after, when M. Baron, who proposed the vow 
of the silver child in favor of the duchess d'Angouleme, who 
was considered as a chief of the Catholic royalists, was 
discovered at the bottom of an old wine tun, the populace 
threw stones at his carriage, and vented their feelings in abu- 
sive language. The Protestant officers protected him from 
injury. 

THE CATHOLIC ARMS OF BEAUCAIRE. 

In May, 1815, a federative association similar to those of Ly- 
ons, Grenoble, Paris, Avignon, and Montpelier, was desired by 
many persons at Nismes ; but this federation terminated here 
after an ephemeral and illusory existence of fourteen days. In 
the meanwhile a large party of Catholic zealots were in arms 
at Beaucaire, and who soon pushed their patrols so near 
the walls of Nismes "as to alarm the inhabitants." These 
Catholics applied to the English off Marseilles for assistance, 
and obtained the grant of one thousand muskets, ten thousand 
cartouches, &c. 

General Gilly, however, was soon sent against these partisans, 
who prevented them from coming to extremes, by granting them 
an armistice ; and yet when Louis XVIII. had returned to Paris 
after the expiration of Napoleon's reign of a hundred days, and 
peace and party spirit seemed to have been subdued, even at 
Nismes, bands from Beaucaire joined Trestaillon in this city, 
to 2"lut the vengeance they had so long premeditated. General 
Gilly had left the department several days : the troops of the 
line left behind had taken the white cockade, and waited further 
26 



302 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS* 

orders, whilst the royal commissioners had only to proclaim the 
cessation of hostilities, and the complete establishment of the 
king's authority. In vain, no commissioners appeared, no de- 
spatches arrived to calm and regulate the public mind ; but to- 
wards evening the advanced guard of the banditti, to the amount 
of several hundreds, entered the city, undesired, but unopposed. 
As they marched without order or discipline, covered with clothes 
or rags of all colors, decorated with cockades, not white, but 
white and green, armed with muskets, sabres, forks, pistols, and 
reaping-hooks, intoxicated with wine, and stained with the 
blood of the Protestants whom they had murdered on their 
route, they presented a most hideous and appalling spectacle. 
In the open place in front of the barracks, this banditti was 
joined by the city armed mob, headed by Jacques Dupont, com- 
monly called Trestaillon. 

To save the effusion of blood, this garrison of about five hun- 
dred men consented to capitulate, and marched out sad and 
defenceless ; but when about fifty had passed, the rabble com- 
menced a tremendous fire on their confiding and unprotected 
victims ; nearly all were killed or wounded, and but very few 
could re-enter the yard before the garrison gates were again 
closed. These were again forced in an instant, and all were 
massacred who could not climb over roofs, or leap into the ad- 
joining gardens. In a word, death met them in every place 
and in every shape, and this Catholic massacre rivalled in cru- 
elty and surpassed in treachery the crimes of the September 
assassins of Paris, and the Jacobinical butcheries of Lyons and 
Avignon. It was marked, not only by the fervor of the Revo- 
lution, but by the subtilty of the League, and will long remain 
a blot upon the history of the second restoration. 

MASSACRE AND PILLAGE AT NISMES. 

Nismes now exhibited a most awful scene of outrage and 
carnage, though many of the Protestants had fled to the Ce- 
vennes and the Gardonenque. The country houses of Messrs. 
Rey, Guiret, and several others, had been pillaged, and the 
inhabitants treated with wanton barbarity. Two parties had 
glutted their savage appetites on the farm of madame Frat : the 
first, after eating, drinking, breaking the furniture, and stealing 
what they thought proper, took leave by announcing the arrival 
of their comrades, " compared with whom," they said, " they 
should be thought merciful." Three men and an old woman 
were left on the premises : at the sight of the second company 
two of the men fled. " Are you a Catholic ?" said the banditti 



FRENCH PERSECUTIONS — 1814 TO 1820. 303 

to the old woman. " Yes." — " Repeat then your Pater and 
Ave." Being terrified, she hesitated, and was instantly knocked 
down with a musket. On recovering her senses, she stole out 
of the house, but met Ladet, the old valet de ferme, bringing in 
a salad which the depredators had ordered him to cut. In vain 
she endeavored to persuade him to fly. " Are you a Protest- 
ant ?" they exclaimed : " I am." A musket being discharged 
at him, he fell, wounded, but not dead. To consummate their 
work, the monsters lighted a fire with straw and boards, threw 
their yet living victim into the flames, and suffered him to ex- 
pire in the most dreadful agonies. They then ate their salad, 
omelet, &c." The next day some laborers, seeing the house 
open and deserted, entered, and discovered the half-consumed 
body of Ladet. The prefect of the Gard, M. Darbaud Jouques, 
attempting to palliate the crimes of the Catholics, had the auda- 
city to assert that Ladet was a Catholic; but this was publicly 
contradicted by two of the pastors at Nismes. 

Another party committed a dreadful murder at St. Cezaire, 
upon Imbert La Plume, the husband of Suzon Chivas. He 
was met on returning from work in the fields. The chief 
promised him his life, but insisted that he must be conducted to 
the prison at Nismes. Seeing, however, that the party was 
determined to kill him, he resumed his natural character, and 
being a powerful and courageous man, advanced, and exclaim- 
ed, " You are brigands — fire !" Four of them fired, and he fell, 
but he was not dead ; and while living they mutilated his body, 
and then passing a cord round it, drew it along, attached to a 
cannon of which they had possession. It was not till after 
eight days that his relatives were apprized of his death. Five 
individuals of the family of Chivas, all husbands and fathers, 
were massacred in the course of a few days. 

Near the barracks at Nismes is a large and handsome house, 
the property of M. Vitte, which he acquired by exertion and 
economy. Besides comfortable lodgings for his own family, he 
let more than twenty chambers, mostly occupied by superior 
officers and commissaries of the army. He never inquired the 
opinion of his tenants, and of course his guests were persons 
of all political parties; but, under pretence of searching for 
concealed officers, his apartments were overrun, his furniture 
broken, and his property carried off at pleasure. The houses 
of Messrs. Lagorce, respectable merchants and manufacturers, 
M. Matthieu, M. Negre, and others, shared the same fate : 
many only avoided it by paying large sums as commutation 
money, or escaping into the country with their cash. 



304 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 



INTERFERENCE OF GOVERNMENT AGAINST THE PROTESTANTS. 

M. Bernis, extraordinary royal commissioner, in consequence 
of these abuses, issued a proclamation which reflects disgrace 
on the authority from which it emanated. " Considering-," it 
said, " that the residence of citizens in places foreign to their 
domicile can only be prejudicial to the communes they have left, 
and to those to which they have repaired, it is ordered, that 
those inhabitants who have quitted their residence since the 
commencement of July, return home by the 28th at the latest, 
otherwise they shall be deemed accomplices of the evil-disposed 
persons who disturb the public tranquillity, and their property 
shall be placed under provisional sequestration." 

The fugitives had sufficient inducements to return to their 
hearths, without the fear of sequestration. They were more 
anxious to embrace their fathers, mothers, wives, and children, 
and to resume their ordinary occupations, than M. Bernis could 
be to insure their return. But thus denouncing men as crimi- 
nals, who fled for safety from the sabres of assassins, was add- 
ing oil to the fire of persecution. Trestaillon, one of the chiefs 
of the brigands, was dressed in complete uniform and epaulets 
which he had stolen ; he wore a sabre at his side, pistols in his 
beh ? a cockade of white and green, and a sash of the same col- 
ors on his arm. He had under him Truphemy, Servan, Aime, 
and many other desperate characters. Some time after this, 
M. Bernis ordered all parties and individuals, armed or unarm- 
ed, to abstain from searching houses without either an order, or 
the presence of an officer. On suspicion of arms being con- 
cealed, the commandant of the town was ordered to furnish a 
patrol to make search and seizure ; and all persons carrying 
arms in the streets, without being on service, were to be ar- 
rested. Trestaillon, however, who still carried arms, was not 
arrested till some months after, and then not by these authori- 
ties, but by general La Garde, who was afterwards assassinated 
by one of his comrades. On this occasion it was remarked, that 
" the system of specious and deceptive proclamations was per- 
fectly understood, and had long been practised in Languedoc : 
it was now too late to persecute the Protestants simply for their 
religion. Even in the good times of Louis XIV. there was 
public opinion enough in Europe to make that arch-tyrant have 
recourse to the meanest stratagems." The following single 
specimen of the plan pursued by the authors of the Dragonades 
may serve as a key to all the plausible proclamations which, in 
1815, covered the perpetration of the most deliberate and exten- 
sive crimes. 



FRENCH PERSECUTIONS — 1814 TO 1820. 306 

Letter from Louvois to Marillac* 

u The king rejoices to learn from your letters, that there are 
so many conversions in your department ; and he desires that 
you would continue your efforts, and employ the same means 
that have been hitherto so successful. His majesty has ordered 
me to send a regiment of cavalry, the greatest part of which he 
wishes to be quartered upon the the Protestants, but he does 
not think it prudent that they should be all lodged with them ; 
that is to say, of twenty-six masters, of w T hich a company is 
composed, if, by a judicious distribution, ten ought to be received 
by the Protestants, give them twenty, and put them all on the 
rich, making this pretence, that when there are not soldiers 
enough in town for all to have some, the poor ought to be ex- 
empt, and the rich burdened. His majesty has also thought 
proper to order, that all converts be exempted from lodging sol- 
diers for two years. This will occasion numerous conversions 
if you take care that it is rigorously executed, and that in all 
the distributions and passage of troops, by far the greatest num- 
ber are quartered on the rich Protestants. His majesty particu- 
larly enjoins, that your orders on this subject, either by yourself 
or your sub-delegates, be given by word of mouth to the mayors 
and sheriffs, without letting them know that his majesty intends 
by these means to force to become converts, and only explaining 
to them, that you give these orders on the information you have 
received, that in these places the rich are excepted by their in- 
fluence, to the prejudice of the poor." 

The merciless treatment of the women in this persecution at 
Nismes was such as would have disgraced any savages ever 
heard of. The widows Eivet and Bernard were forced to 
sacrifice enormous sums; and the house of Mrs. Lecointe was 
ravaged, and her goods destroyed. Mrs. F. Didier had her 
dwelling sacked and nearly demolished to the foundations. A 
party of these bigots visited the widow Perrin, who lived on a 
little farm at the windmills : having committed every species of 
devastation, they attacked even the sanctuary of the dead, which 
contained the relics of her family. They dragged the coffins 
out, and scattered the contents over the adjacent grounds. In 
vain this outraged widow collected the bones of her ancestors 
and replaced them : they were again dug up ; and, after several 
useless efforts, they were reluctantly left spread over the surface 
of the fields. 

Till the period announced for the sequestration of the property 



306 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

of the fugitives by authority, murder and plunder were the daily 
employment of what was called the army of Beaucaire, and the 
Catholics of Nismes. M. Peyron, of Brossan, had all his pro- 
perty carried off: his wine, oil, seed, grain, several score of 
sheep, eight mules, three carts, his furniture and effects, all the 
cash that could be found ; and he had only to congratulate him- 
self that his habitation was not consumed, and his vineyards 
rooted up. A similar process against several other Protestant 
farmers was also regularly carried on during several days. 
Many of the Protestants thus persecuted were well known as 
stanch royalists ; but it was enough for their enemies to know 
that they belonged to the reformed communion : these fanatics 
were determined not to find either royalists or citizens worthy 
the common protection of society. To accuse, condemn, and 
destroy a Protestant, was a matter that required no hesitation. 
The house of M. Vitte, near the barracks at Nismes, was broken 
open, and every thing within the walls demolished. A Jew 
family of lodgers was driven out, and all their goods thrown 
out of the windows. M. Vitte was seized, robbed of his watch 
and money, severely wounded, and left for dead. After he had 
been fourteen hours in a state of insensibility, a commissary of 
police, touched by his misfortunes, administered some cordials 
to revive him ; and, as a measure of safety, conducted him to 
the citadel, where he remained many days, whilst his family 
lamented him as dead. At length, as there was not the slight- 
est charge against him, he obtained his liberation from M. Vi- 
dal; but when the Austrians arrived, one of the aids-de-camp, 
who heard of his sufferings and his respectability, sought him 
out, and furnished an escort to conduct his family to a place of 
safety. Dalbos, the only city beadle who was a Protestant, was 
dragged from his home and led to prison. His niece threw 
herself on the neck of one of them and begged for mercy : the 
ruffian dashed her to the ground. His sister was driven away 
by the mob ; and he being shot, his body remained a long time 
exposed to the insults of the rabble. 

ROYAL DECREE IN FAVOR OF THE PERSECUTED. 

At length the decree of Louis XVIII. which annulled all the 
extraordinary powers conferred either by the king, the princes, 
or subordinate agents, was received at Nismes, and the laws 
were now to be administered by the regular organs, and a new 
prefect arrived to carry them into effect ; but in spite of procla- 
mations, the work of destruction, stopped for a moment, was not 
abandoned, but soon renewed with fresh vigor and effect. On 



FRENCH PERSECUTIONS — 1814 TO 1820. 307 

the 30th of July, Jacques Combe, the father of a family, was 
killed by some of the national guards of Rusau, and the crime 
was so public, that the commander of the party restored to the 
family the pocket-book and papers of the deceased. On the 
following day tumultuous crowds roamed about the city and 
suburbs, threatening the wretched peasants ; and on the 1st of 
August they butchered them without opposition. About noon 
on the same day, six armed men, headed by Truphemy the 
butcher, surrounded the house of Monot, a carpenter : two of 
the party, who were smiths, had been at work in the house the 
day before, and had seen a Protestant who had taken refuge 
there, M. Bourillon, who had been a lieutenant in the army, 
and had retired on a pension. He was a man of an excellent 
character, peaceable and harmless, and had never served the 
emperor Napoleon. Truphemy not knowing him, he was 
pointed out, partaking of a frugal breakfast with the family. 
Truphemy ordered him to go along with him, adding, " Your 
friend, Saussine, is already in the other world." Truphemy 
placed him in the middle of his troop, and artfully ordered him 
to cry "Vive Venvpereur :" he refused, adding he had never 
served the emperor. In vain did the women and children of 
the house intercede for his life, and praise his amiable and vir- 
tuous qualities. He was marched to the Esplanade, and shot, 
first by Truphemy and then by the others. Several persons, 
attracted by the firing, approached, but were threatened with 
a similar fate, After some time, the wretches departed, shout- 
ing " Vive le roi." Some women met them, and one of them 
appearing affected, said one, u I have killed seven to-day for my 
share, and if you say a word, you shall be the eighth." Pierre 
Courbet, a stocking weaver, was torn from his loom by an 
armed band, and shot at his own doer. His eldest daughter 
was knocked down with the but-end of a musket ; and a pon- 
iard was held at the breast of his wife while the mob plundered 
her apartments. Paul Heraut, a silk-weaver, was literally cut 
in pieces, in the presence of a large crowd, and amidst the una- 
vailing cries and tears of his wife and four young children. 
The murderers only abandoned the corpse to return to Heraut's 
house and secure every thing valuable. The number of mur- 
ders on this day could not be ascertained. One person saw six 
bodies at the Cours Neuf, and nine were carried to the hospital. 
If murder some time after became less frequent for a few 
days, pillage and forced contributions were actively enforced. 
M. Salle d'Hombre, at several visits, was robbed of seven thou- 
sand francs; and. on one occasion, when he pleaded the sacri- 



308 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

fices he had made, " Look," said a bandit, pointing to his pipe, 
" this will set fire to your house ; and this," brandishing his 
sword, " will finish you." No reply could be made to these 
arguments. M. Feline, a silk manufacturer, was robbed of 
thirty-two thousand francs in gold, three thousand francs in sil- 
ver, and several bales of silk. 

The small shopkeepers were continually exposed to visits and 
demands of provisions, drapery, or whatever they sold ; and the 
same hands that set fire to the houses of the rich, and tore up 
the vines of the cultivator, broke the looms of the weaver, and 
stole the tools of the artisan. Desolation reigned in the sanc- 
tuary and in the city. The armed bands, instead of being 
reduced, were increased; the fugitives, instead of returning, 
received constant accessions, and their friends who sheltered 
them were deemed rebellious. Those Protestants who remain- 
ed were deprived of all their civil and religious rights, and even 
the advocates and huissiers entered into a resolution to exclude 
all of the "pretended reformed religion" from their bodies. 
Those who were employed in selling tobacco were deprived of 
their licenses. The Protestant deacons who had the charge of 
the poor were all scattered. Of five pastors only two remained ; 
one of these was obliged to change his residence, and could only 
venture to administer the consolations of religion, or perform 
the functions of his ministry, under cover of the night. 

Not contented with these modes of torment, calumnious and 
inflammatory publications charged the Protestants with raising 
the proscribed standard in the communes, and invoking the 
fallen Napoleon ; and, of course, as unworthy the protection of 
the laws and the favor of the monarch. 

Hundreds after this were dragged to prison without even so 
much as a written order ; and though an official newspaper, 
bearing the title of the Journal du Gard, was set up, for five 
months while it was influenced by the prefect, the mayor, and 
other functionaries, the word charter was never once used in it. 
One of the first numbers, on the contrary, represented the suf- 
fering Protestants as " crocodiles, only weeping from rage and 
regret that they had no more victims to devour ; as persons who 
had surpassed Danton, Marat and Eebespierre in doing mis- 
chief; and as having prostituted their daughters to the garrison 
to gain it over to Napoleon." An extract from this article, 
stamped with the crown and the arms of the Bourbons, was 
hawked about the streets, and the vender was adorned with the 
medal of the police. 



FRENCH PERSECUTIONS 1814 TO 1820. 309 



PETITION OF THE PROTESTANT REFUGEES. 

To these reproaches it is proper to oppose the petition which 
the Protestant refugees in Paris presented to Louis XVIII. in 
behalf of their brethren at Nismes. 

" We lay at your feet, sire, our acute sufferings. In your 
name our fellow-citizens are slaughtered, and their property laid 
waste. Misled peasants, in pretended obedience to your orders, 
had assembled at the command of a commissioner appointed by 
your august nephew. Although ready to attack us, they were 
received with the assurances of peace. On the loth of July, 
1815, we learnt your majesty's entrance into Paris, and the 
white flag immediately waved on our edifices. The public 
tranquillity had not been disturbed, when armed peasants intro- 
duced themselves. The garrison capitulated, but were assailed 
on their departure, and almost totally massacred. Our national 
guard was disarmed, the city filled with strangers, and the 
houses of the principal inhabitants professing the reformed reli- 
gion were attacked and plundered. We subjoin the list. Ter- 
ror has driven from our city the most respectable inhabitants. 

" Your majesty has been deceived if there has not been 
placed before you the picture of the horrors which make a des- 
ert of your good city of Nismes. Arrests and proscriptions 
are continually taking place, and difference of religious opinions 
is the real and only cause. The calumniated Protestants are 
the defenders of the throne. Your nephew has beheld our 
children under his banners ; our fortunes have been placed in 
his hands. Attacked without reason, the Protestants have not 
even, by a just resistance, afforded their enemies the fatal pre- 
text for calumny. Save us, sire ! extinguish the brand of civil 
war: a single act of your will would restore to political exist- 
ence a city interesting for its population and its manufactures. 
Demand an account of their conduct from the chiefs who have 
brought our misfortunes upon us. We place before your eyes 
all the documents that have reached us. Fear paralyzes the 
hearts and stifles the complaints of our fellow-citizens. Placed 
in a more secure situation, we venture to raise our voice in their 
behalf," &c. 

MONSTROUS OUTRAGE UPON FE3IALES. 

At Nismes it is well known that the women wash their 
clothes either at the fountains or on the banks of streams. 
There is a large basin near the fountain, where numbers of 
women may be seen, every day, kneeling at the edge of the 



310 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS* 

water, and beating the clothes with heavy pieces of wood in the 
shape of battledoors. This spot became the scene of the 
most shameful and indecent practices. The Catholic rabble 
turned the women's petticoats over their heads, and so fastened 
them as to continue their exposure, and their subjection to a 
newly invented species of chastisement : for nails being placed 
in the wood of the battoirs in the form of fleur-de-lis, they beat 
them till the blood streamed from their bodies, and their cries 
rent the air. Often was death demanded as a commutation of 
this ignominious punishment, but refused with a malignant joy. 
To carry their outrage to the highest possible degree, several 
who were in a state of pregnancy were assailed in this manner. 
The scandalous nature of these outrages prevented many of the 
sufferers from making them public, and, especially, from relating 
the most aggravating circumstances. " I have seen," says M. 
Durand, " A Catholic avocat, accompanying the assassins in the 
fauxbourg Bourgade, arm a battoir with sharp nails in the form 
of fleur-de-lis : I have seen them raise the garments of females, 
and apply, with heavy blows, to the bleeding body, this battoir, 
or battledoor, to which they gave a name which my pen refuses 
to record. The crimes of the sufferers — the streams of blood — 
the murmurs of indignation which were suppressed by fear — 
nothing could move them. The surgeons who attended on 
those women who are dead, can attest, by the marks of their 
wounds, the agonies which they must have endured, which, 
however horrible, is most strictly true." 

Nevertheless, during the progress of these horrors and ob- 
scenities so disgraceful to France and the Catholic religion, the 
agents of government had a powerful force under their command, 
and by honestly employing it they might have restored tranquil- 
lity. Murder and robbery however continued, and were winked 
at by the Catholic magistrates, with very few exceptions : the 
administrative authorities, it is true, used words in their procla- 
mations, &c. but never had recourse to actions to stop the enor- 
mities of the persecutors, who boldly declared that, on the 24th, 
the anniversary of St. Bartholomew, they intended to make a 
general massacre. The members of the reformed church were 
filled with terror, and instead of taking part in the election of 
deputies, were occupied as well as they could in providing for 
their own personal safety. 

ARRIVAL OF THE AUSTRIANS AT NISMES. 

About this time, a treaty between the French court and the 
allied sovereigns prohibited the advance of the foreign troops 



FRENCH PERSECUTIONS — 1814 TO 1820. 311 

beyond the line of territory already occupied, and traced by the 
course of the Loire, and by the Rhone, below the Ardeche. In 
violation of this treaty, four thousand Austrians entered Nismes 
on the 24th of August: under pretence of making room for 
them, French troops, bearing the feudal title of Royal Chasseurs, 
followed by the murdering bands of the Trestaillons and Qua- 
tretaillons, who continued their march to Alais, where a fair 
was to be held, and carried disorder and alarm into all the 
communes on that route. Nothing now was heard but de- 
nunciations of fusillading, burning, razing, and annihilating; 
and while the Catholics were feasting and murdering at Nismes, 
the flames of the country houses of the Protestants, rising a 
hundred feet in the air, rendered the spectacle still more awful 
and alarming. Unfortunately, some of the peasants, falsely 
charged with the murder of two Protestants, were brought to 
Nismes while the prefect was celebrating the fete of St. Louis. 
At a splendid dinner given to the Austrian commanders, and 
even without quitting the table, it appears that the French pre- 
fect placed the fate and fortune of these unfortunate prisoners at 
the disposal of count Stahremberg, who, of course, believing the 
representations made to him, ordered the accused to be imme- 
diately shot. To mortify and exhaust the Protestant communes, 
the Austrians were directed to occupy them, where they com- 
pletely disarmed the inhabitants without the least opposition. 
In fact, these foreigners were soon undeceived. They expected 
to meet the most perfidious and brutal enemies in arms, and in 
open rebellion against their king; but on the contrary, they 
found them all in peace, and experienced the most kind and 
respectful treatment ; and though their duty was a most vexa- 
tious and oppressive one, they performed it in general with 
moderation. On this account they could not refrain from ex- 
pressing their astonishment at the reports made to them by the 
authorities at Nismes, declaring " they had found a population 
suffering great misfortunes, but no rebels ; and that compassion 
was the only feeling that prevailed in their minds." The com- 
mander, himself, was so convinced of the good disposition of 
the people of the Cevennes, that he visited those districts with- 
out an escort, desiring, he said, to travel in that country as he 
would in his own. Such confidence was a public reproach on 
the authorities of Nismes, and a sentence of condemnation on 
all their proceedings. 

As the persecution of the Protestants was spreading into 
other departments, strong and forcible representations were se- 
cretly printed and made to the king. All the ordinary modes 



312 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

of communication had been stopped ; the secrecy of letters vio* 
lated, and none circulated but those relative to private affairs. 
Sometimes these letters bore the post-mark of places very dis- 
tant, and arrived without signatures, and enveloped in allegori- 
cal allusions. In fact, a powerful resistance on the part of the 
outraged Protestants was at length apprehended, which, in the 
beginning of September, excited the proclamation of the king, 
on which it was observed, that " if his majesty had been cor- 
rectly and fully informed of all that had taken place, he surely 
would not have contented himself with announcing his severe 
displeasure to a misled people, who took justice into their own 
hands, and avenged the crimes committed against loyalty." The 
proclamation was dictated as though there had not been a Pro- 
testant in the department; it assumed and affirmed throughout 
the guilt of the sufferers ; and while it deplored the atrocious 
outrages endured by the followers of the duke d'Angouleme, 
(outrages which never existed,) the plunder and massacre of 
the reformed were not even noticed. 

Still disorders kept pace with the proclamations that made a 
show of suppressing them, and the force of the Catholic faction 
also continued to increase. The Catholic populace, notwith- 
standing the decrees of the magistrates, were allowed to retain 
the arms they had illegally seized, whilst the Protestants in the 
departments were disarmed. The members of the reformed 
churches wished at this period to present another memorial 
to the government, descriptive of the evils they still suffered, 
but this was not practicable. On the 26th of September, the 
president of the consistory wrote as follows : " I have only been 
able to assemble two or three members of the consistory pastors 
or elders. It is impossible to draw up a memoir, or to collect 
facts ; so great is the terror, that every one is afraid to speak of 
his own sufferings, or to mention those he has been compelled 
to witness." 

OUTRAGES COMMITTED IN THE VILLAGES, &c. 

We now quit Nismes to take a view of the conduct of the 
persecutors in the surrounding country. After the re-establish- 
ment of the royal government, the local authorities were distin- 
guished for their zeal and forwardness in supporting their 
employers, and, under pretence of rebellion, concealment of 
arms, nonpayment of contributions, &c. troops, national guards 
and armed mobs were permitted to plunder, arrest and murder 
peaceable citizens, not merely with impunity, but with encour- 
agement and approbation. At the village of Milhaud, near 



FRENCH PERSECUTIONS — 1814 TO 1820. 313 

Nismes, the inhabitants were frequently forced to pay large 
sums to avoid being pillaged. This, however, would not avail 
at madame Teuton's. On Sunday, the 16th of July, her house 
and grounds were ravaged ; the valuable furniture removed or 
destroyed, the hay and wood burnt, and the corpse of a child, 
buried in the garden, taken up and dragged round a fire made 
by the populace. It was with great difficulty that M. Teuton 
escaped with his life. M. Picherol, another Protestant, had 
deposited some of his effects with a Catholic neighbor; this 
hous3 was attacked, and although the property of the latter was 
respected, that of his friend was seized and destroyed. At the 
same village, one of a party doubting whether M. Hermet, a 
tailor, was the man they wanted, asked, " Is he a Protestant ?" 
this he acknowledged. " Good," said they, and he was instantly 
murdered. In the canton of Vauvert, where there was a con- 
sistorial church, eighty thousand francs were extorted. In the 
communes of Beauvoisin and Generac similar excesses were 
committed by a handful of licentious men, under the eye of the 
Catholic mayor ; and, to the cries of " Vive le roi" St. Gilles 
was the scene of the most unblushing villany. The Protestants, 
the most wealthy of the inhabitants, were disarmed, whilst their 
houses were pillaged. The mayor was appealed to : the mayor 
laughed and walked away. This officer had, at his disposal, 
a national guard of several hundred men, organized by his own 
orders. It would be wearisome to read the lists of the crimes 
that occurred during many months. At Clavisson the mayor 
prohibited the Protestants the practice of singing the psalms 
commonly used in the temple, that, as he said, the Catholics 
might not be offended or disturbed. 

At Sommieres, about ten miles from Nismes, the Catholics 
made a splendid procession through the town, which continued 
till evening, and was succeeded by the plunder of the Protest- 
ants. On the arrival of foreign troops at Sommieres, the 
pretended search for arms was resumed ; those who did not 
possess muskets were compelled to buy them on purpose to 
surrender them up, and soldiers were quartered on them at six 
francs a day till they produced the articles in demand. The 
Protestant church, which had been closed, was converted into 
barracks for the Austrians. After divine service had been sus- 
pended for six months at Nismes, the church by the Protestants 
called the Temple was reopened, and public worship performed 
on the morning of the 24th of December. On examining the 
belfry, it was discovered that some persons had carried off the 
27 



314 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

clapper of the bell. As the hour of service approached, a num- 
ber of men, women and children collected at the house of M. 
Eibot, the pastor, and threatened to prevent the worship. At 
the appointed time, when he proceeded towards the church, he 
was surrounded ; the most savage shouts were raised against 
him ; some of the women seized him by the collar ; but nothing 
could disturb his firmness, or excite his impatience : he entered 
the house of prayer, and ascended the pulpit; stones were 
thrown in and fell among the worshipers ; still the congregation 
remained calm and attentive, and the service was concluded 
amidst noise, threats, and outrage. On retiring, many would 
have been killed but for the chasseurs of the garrison, who 
honorably and zealously protected them. 

On the 20th of January, 1816, when the service in com- 
memoration of the death of Louis XVI. was celebrated, a pro- 
cession being formed, the national guards fired at the white flag 
suspended from the windows of the Protestants, and concluded 
the day by plundering their houses. In the commune of Angar- 
gues, matters were still worse ; and in that of Fontanes, from 
the entry of the king in 1815, the Catholics broke all terms with 
the Protestants ; by day they insulted them, and in the night 
broke open their doors, or marked them with chalk to be plun- 
dered or burnt. St. Mamert was repeatedly visited by these 
robberies; and at Montmirail, as lately as the 16th of June, 
1816, the Protestants were attacked, beaten and imprisoned for 
daring to celebrate the return of a king who had sworn to pre- 
serve religious liberty and to maintain the charter. In fact, to 
continue the relation of the scenes that took place in the different 
departments of the south of France, would be little better than a 
repetition of those we have already described, excepting a 
change of names : but the most sanguinary of all seems that 
which was perpetrated at Uzes, at the latter end of August, and 
the burning of several Protestant places of worship. These 
shameful persecutions continued till after the dissolution of the 
chamber of deputies, at the close of the year 1816. After a 
review of these anti-Protestant proceedings, the British reader 
will not think of comparing them with the riots of London in 
1780, or with those of Birmingham about 1793 ; as it is evident 
that where governments possess absolute power, such events 
could not have been prolonged for many months and even for 
years over a vast extent of country, had it not been for the sys- 
tematic and powerful support of the higher departments of the 
state. 



FRENCH PERSECUTIONS — 1814 TO 1820. 315 



FURTHER ACCOUNT OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE CATHOLICS AT 

NISMES. 

The excesses perpetrated in the country it seems did not by 
any means divert the attention of the persecutors from Nismes. 
October, 1815, commenced without any improvement in the 
principles or the measures of the government, and this was fol- 
lowed by corresponding presumption on the part of the people. 
Several houses in the Quartier St. Charles were sacked, and 
their wrecks burnt in the streets, amidst songs, dances, and 
shouts of " Vive le roi." The mayor appeared, but the merry 
multitude pretended not to know him, and when he ventured to 
remonstrate, they told him " his presence was unnecessary, and 
that he might retire." During the 16th of October, every pre- 
paration seemed to announce a night of carnage ; orders for 
assembling and signals for attack were circulated with regularity 
and confidence ; Trestaillon reviewed his satellites, and urged 
them on to the perpetration of crimes, holding with one of those 
wretches the following dialogue : 

Satellite. " If all the Protestants, without one exception, are 
to be killed, I will cheerfully join ; but as you have so often 
deceived me, unless they are all to go, I will not stir." 

Trestaillon. " Come along then, for this time not a single 
man shall escape." — This horrid purpose would have been exe- 
cuted had it not been for general La Garde, the commandant of 
the department. It was not till ten o'clock at night that he 
perceived the danger ; he now felt that not a moment could be 
lost. Crowds were advancing through the suburbs, and the 
streets were filling with ruffians, uttering the most horrid im- 
precations. The generale sounded at eleven o'clock, and added 
to the confusion that was now spreading through the city. A 
few troops rallied round the count La Garde, who was wrung 
with distress at the sight of the evil which had arrived at such 
a pitch. Of this M. Durand, a Catholic advocate, gave the fol- 
lowing account : 

" It was near midnight, my wife had just fallen asleep ; I was 
writing by her side, when we were disturbed by a distant noise : 
drums seemed crossing the town in every direction. What 
could all this mean ? To quiet her alarms, I said it probably 
announced the arrival or departure of some troops of the garri- 
son. But firing and shouts were immediately audible ; and on 
opening my window I distinguished horrible imprecations min- 
gled with cries of " Vive le roi /" I roused an officer who lodged 
in the house, and M. Chancel, director of the public works. 



316 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS* 

We went out together, and gained the Boulevards. The moon 
shone bright, and every object was nearly as distinct as day ; a 
furious crowd was pressing on, vowing extermination, and the 
greater part half naked, armed with knives, muskets, sticks, and 
sabres. In answer to my inquiries, I was told the massacre 
was general; that many had been already killed in the suburbs. 
M. Chancel retired to put on his uniform as captain of the Pom- 
piers ; the officer retired to the barracks; and, anxious for my 
wife, I returned home. By the noise I was convinced that per- 
sons followed. I crept along in the shadow of the wall, opened 
my door, entered, and closed it, leaving a small aperture through 
which I could watch the movements of the party, whose arms 
shone in the moonlight. In a few moments some armed men 
appeared conducting a prisoner to the very spot where I was 
concealed. They stopped, I shut my door gently, and mounted 
an alder-tree planted against the garden wall. What a scene ! 
a man on his knees imploring mercy from wretches who mocked 
his agony, and loaded him with abuse. ' In the name of my 
wife and children,' he said, ' spare me ' What have I done ? 
Why would you murder me for nothing V I was on the point 
of crying out and menacing the murderers with vengeance. I 
had not long to deliberate ; the discharge of several fusils ter- 
minated my suspense ; the unhappy supplicant, struck in the 
loins and the head, fell to rise no more. The backs of the 
assassins were towards the tree; they retired immediately, re- 
loading their pieces. I descended and approached the dying 
man, uttering some deep and dismal groans. Some national 
guards arrived at the moment. I again retired and shut the 
door: ' I see,' said one, 'a dead man.' — ' He sings still,' said 
another. * It will be better,' said a third, ' to finish him and put 
him out of his misery.' Five or six muskets were fired in- 
stantly, and the groans ceased. On the following day crowds 
came to inspect and insult the deceased. A day after a massa- 
cre was always observed as a sort of fete, and every occupation 
was left to go and gaze upon the victims. This was Louis Li- 
chare, the father of four children ; and four years after the event 
M. Durand verified this account by his oath on the trial of one 
of the murderers." 

ATTACK UPON THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES. 

Some time before the death of general La Garde, the duke 
of Angouleme had visited Nismes and other cities in the south, 
and at the former place honored the members of the Protestant 
consistory with an interview, promising them protection, and 



FRENCH PERSECUTIONS — 1814 TO 1820. 317 

encouraging them to reopen their temple so long shut up. 
They have two churches at Nismes, and it was agreed that the 
small one should be preferred on this occasion, and that the 
ringing of the bell should be omitted : general La Garde de- 
clared that he would answer with his head for the safety of the 
congregation. The Protestants privately informed each other 
that worship was once more to be celebrated at ten o'clock, and 
they began to assemble silently and cautiously. It was agreed 
that M. Juillerat Chasseur should perform the service, though 
such was his conviction of danger that he entreated his wife and 
some of his flock to remain with their families. The temple 
being opened only as a matter of form and compliance with the 
orders of the duke d'Angouleme, this pastor wished to be the 
only victim. On his way to the place he passed numerous 
groups, who regarded him with ferocious looks. " This is the 
time," said some, u to give them the last blow." — " Yes," added 
others, " and neither women nor children must be spared." 
One wretch, raising his voice above the rest, exclaimed, " Ah, 
I will go and get my musket, and ten for my share." Through 
these ominous sounds M. Juillerat pursued his course, but when 
he gained the temple the sexton had not the courage to open 
the door, and he was obliged to do it himself. As the worship- 
ers arrived they found strange persons in possession of the adja- 
cent streets, and upon the steps of the church, vowing their 
worship should not be performed, and crying " Down with the 
Protestants ! Kill them ! kill them !" At ten o'clock the church 
being nearly filled, M. J. Chasseur commenced the prayers ; a 
calm that succeeded was of short duration. On a sudden the 
minister was interrupted by a violent noise, and a number of 
persons entered, uttering the most dreadful cries, mingled with 
" Vive le roi;" but the gens-d'armes succeeded in excluding 
these fanatics and closing the doors. The noise and tumult 
without now redoubled, and the blows of the populace trying 
to break open the doors caused the house to resound with 
shrieks and groans. The voice of the pastors w T ho endeavored 
to console their flock was inaudible; they attempted in vain to 
sing the 42d Psalm. 

Three quarters of an hour rolled heavily away. " I placed 
myself," says madame Juillerat, " at the bottom of the pulpit, 
with my daughter in my arms ; my husband at length joined 
and sustained me : I remembered that it was the anniversary 
of my marriage ; after six years of happiness, I said, I am about 
to die with my husband and my daughter : we shall be slain at 
the altar of our God, the victims of a sacred duty, and heaven 
27* 



318 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

will open to receive us and our unhappy brethren. I blessed 
the Redeemer, and without cursing our murderers, I awaited 
their approach." 

M. Olivier, son of a pastor, an officer in the royal troops of 
the line, attempted to leave the church, but the friendly sentinels 
at the door advised him to remain besieged with the rest. The 
national guards refused to act, and the fanatical crowd took 
every advantage of the absence of general La Garde, and 
of their increasing numbers. At length the sound of mar- 
tial music was heard, and voices from without called to the 
besieged, " Open* open, and save yourselves." Their first im* 
pression was a fear of treachery, but they were soon assured 
that a detachment returning from mass was drawn up in front 
of the church to favor the retreat of the Protestants. The door 
was opened, and many of them escaped among the ranks of the 
soldiers, who had driven the mob before them ; but this street, 
as well as several others through which the fugitives had to 
pass, was soon filled again. The venerable pastor Oliver Des- 
mond, between seventy and eighty years of age, was surrounded 
by murderers ; they put their fists in his face, and cried, " Kill 
the chief of brigands." He was preserved by the firmness of 
some officers, among whom was his own son ; they made a 
bulwark round him with their bodies, and amidst their naked 
sabres conducted him to his house. M. Juillerat, who had as- 
sisted at divine service, with his wife at his side, and his child 
in his arms, was pursued and assailed with stones ; his mother 
received a blow on the head, and her life was some time in 
danger. One woman was shamefully whipped, and several 
wounded and dragged along the streets ; the number of Protest- 
ants more or less ill-treated on this occasion amounted to be- 
tween seventy and eighty. 

MURDER OF GENERAL LA GARDE. 

At length a check was put to these excesses by the report of 
the murder of count La Garde, who, receiving an account of this 
tumult, mounted his horse, and entered one of the streets, to 
disperse a crowd. A villain seized his bridle ; another presented 
the muzzle of a pistol close to his body, and exclaimed, " Wretch, 
you make me retire !" He immediately fired. The murderer 
was Louis Boissin, a sergeant in the national guard ; but, though 
known to every one, no person endeavored to arrest him, and he 
effected his escape. As soon as the general found himself 
wounded, he gave orders to the gendarmerie to protect the Pro- 
testants, and set off on a gallop to his hotel ; but fainted imme- 



FRENCH PERSECUTIONS — IB 14 TO 1820. 319 

diately on his arrival. On recovering he prevented the surgeon 
from searching his wound till he had written a letter to the 
government, that, in case of his death, it might be known from 
what quarter the blow came, and that none might dare to accuse 
the Protestants of this crime. The probable death of this gen- 
eral produced a small degree of relaxation on the part of their 
enemies, and seme calm ; but the mass of the people had been 
indulged in licentiousness too long to be restrained even by the 
murder of the representative of their king. In the evening they 
again repaired to the temple, and with hatchets broke open the 
doors : the dismal noise of their blows carried terror into the 
bosom of the Protestant families sitting in their houses in tears. 
The contents of the poor's box, and the clothes prepared for dis- 
tribution, were stolen ; the minister's iobes rent in pieces ; the 
books torn up or carried away; the closets were ransacked, but 
the room which contained the archives of the church and the 
synods was providentially secured ; and had it not been for the 
numerous patrols on foot, the whole would have become the 
prey of the flames, and the edifice itself a heap of ruins. In the 
mean while, the fanatics openly ascribed the murder of the gen- 
eral to his own self-devotion, and said that "it was the will of 
God." Three thousand francs were offered for the apprehension 
of Boissin ; but it was well known that the Protestants dared 
not arrest him, and that the fanatics would not. During these 
transactions, the system of forced conversions to Catholicism 
was making regular and fearful progress. 

INTERFERENCE OF THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT. 

To the credit of England, the reports of these cruel persecu- 
tions carried on against our Protestant brethren in France pro- 
duced such a sensation on the part of government as determined 
them to interfere ; and now the persecutors of the Protestants 
made this spontaneous act of humanity and religion the pretext 
for charging the sufferers with a treasonable correspondence with 
England; but in this state of their proceedings, to their great 
dismay, a letter appeared, sent some time before to England by 
the duke of Wellington, stating that " much information existed 
on the events of the south." 

The ministers of the three denominations in London, anxious 
not to be misled, requested one of their brethren to visit the 
scenes of persecution, and examine with impartiality the nature 
and extent of the evils they were desirous to relieve. The Rev. 
Clement Perrot undertook this difficult task, and fulfilled their 
wishes with a zeal, prudence and devotedness, above all praise. 



320 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS, 

His return furnished abundant and incontestible proof of a 
shameful persecution, materials for an appeal to the British 
parliament, and a printed report which was circulated through 
the continent, and which first conveyed correct information to 
the inhabitants of France. 

Foreign interference was now found eminently useful ; and 
the declarations of tolerance which it elicited from the French 
government, as well as the more cautious march of the Catholic 
persecutors, operated as decisive and involuntary acknowledg- 
ments of the importance of that interference which some persons 
at first censured and despised : but though the stern voice of 
public opinion in England and elsewhere produced a reluctant 
suspension of massacre and pillage, the murderers and plunder- 
ers were still left unpunished, and even caressed and rewarded 
for their crimes ; and whilst Protestants in France suffered the 
most cruel and degrading pains and penalties for alleged trifling 
crimes, Catholics, covered with blood, and guilty of numerous 
and horrid murders, were acquitted. 

Perhaps the virtuous indignation expressed by some of the 
more enlightened Catholics against these abominable proceedings 
had no small share in restraining them. 3Iany innocent Pro- 
testants had been condemned to the galleys, and otherwise pun- 
ished, for supposed crimes, upon the oaths of wretches the most 
unprincipled and abandoned. M. Madier de Montgau, judge 
of the cour royale of Xismes, and president of the cour d'assizes 
of the Gard and Vaucluse, upon one occasion felt himself com- 
pelled to break up the court, rather than take the deposition of 
that notorious and sanguinary monster Truphemy : "In a hall," 
says he, M of the palace of justice, opposite that in which I sat, 
several unfortunate persons, persecuted by the faction, were 
upon trial: every deposition tending to their crimination was 
applauded with the cries of ■ Vive le roi.' Three times the 
explosion of this atrocious joy became so terrible, that it was 
necessary to send for reinforcements from the barracks, and two 
hundred soldiers were often unable to restrain the people. On 
a sudden the shouts and cries of ' Vive le roi ' redoubled : a man 
arrives, caressed, applauded, borne in triumph — it is the horrible 
Truphemy; he approaches the tribunal — he comes to depose 
against the prisoners — he is admitted as a witness — he raises 
his hand to take the oath ! Seized with horror at the sight, I 
rush from my seat, and enter the hall of council ; my colleagues 
follow me ; in vain they persuade me to resume my seat ; 
' No !' exclaimed I, ' I will not consent to see that wretch admit- 
ted to give evidence in a court of justice in the city which he 



FRENCH PERSECUTIONS 1814 TO 1820. 321 

has filled with murders ; in the palace, on the steps of which 
he has murdered the unfortunate Bourillon. I cannot admit 
that he should kill his victims by his testimonies no more than 
by his poniards. He an accuser! he a witness ! No, never 
will I consent to see this monster rise, in the presence of magis- 
trates, to take a sacrilegious oath, his hand still reeking with 
blood.' These words were repeated out of doors; the witness 
trembled ; the factious also trembled ; the factious who guided 
the tongue of Truphemy as they had directed his arm, who 
dictated calumny after they had taught him murder. These 
words penetrated the dungeons of the condemned, and inspired 
hope : they gave another courageous advocate the resolution to 
espouse the cause of the persecuted : he carried the prayers of 
innocence and misery to the foot of the throne ; there he asked 
if the evidence of a Truphemy was not sufficient to annul a 
sentence. The king granted a full and free pardon." 

PERJURY IN THE CASE OF GENERAL GILLY, &c. 

This Catholic system of subornation and perjury was carried 
to such an infamous degree, that twenty-six witnesses were 
found to sign and swear, that on the 3d of April, 1815, general 
Gilly, with his own hand, and before their eyes, took down the 
white flag at Nismes ; though it was proved that when the tri- 
colored flag was raised in its room, the general was fifteen leagues 
from Nismes, and that he did not arrive there till three days 
after that event. Before tribunals thus constituted, even inno- 
cence had not the least chance for protection. General Gilly 
knew better than to appear before them, and was condemned to 
death for contempt of court. But when he left Nismes, he 
thought either of passing into a foreign country, or of joining 
the army of the Loire ; and it was long supposed that he had 
actually escaped. As it was impossible to gain any point, or 
find any security, his only hope was in concealment, and a 
friend found him an asylum in the cottage of a peasant ; but 
that peasant was a Protestant, and the general was a Catholic : 
however, he did not hesitate ; he confided in this poor man's 
honor. This cottage was in the canton of Anduze ; the name 
of its keeper, Perrier : he welcomed the fugitive, and did not 
even ask his name : it was a time of proscription, and his host 
would know nothing of him ; it was enough that he was unfor- 
tunate, and in danger. He was disguised, and he passed for 
Perrier's cousin. The general is naturally amiable, and he 
made himself agreeable, sat by the fire, ate potatoes, and con- 
tented himself with miserable fere, Though subject to frequent 



322 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

and many painful alarms, he preserved his retreat several 
months, and often heard the visiters of his host boast of the 
concealment of general Gilly, or of being acquainted with the 
place of his retreat. Patrols were continually searching for 
arms in the houses of Protestants ; and often in the night the 
general was obliged to leave his mattress, half-naked, and hide 
himself in the fields. Perrier, to avoid these inconveniences, 
made an under-ground passage, by which his guest could pass 
to an outhouse. 

The wife of Perrier could not endure that one who had seen 
better days should live as her family did, on vegetables and 
bread, and occasionally bought meat to regale the melancholy 
stranger. These unusual purchases excited attention ; it was 
suspected that Perrier had some one concealed ; nightly visits 
were more frequent. In this state of anxiety he often com- 
plained of the hardness of his lot. Perrier one day returned 
from market in a serious mood ; and, after some inquiries from 
his guest, he replied, " Why do you complain ? you are fortu- 
nate, compared with the poor wretches whose heads were cried 
in the market to-day ; Bruguier, the pastor, at two thousand 
four hundred francs; Bresse, the mayor, at the same; and 
general Gilly at ten thousand !" — " Is it possible ?" — " Ay, it is 
certain." Gilly concealed his emotion ; a momentary suspicion 
passed his mind ; he appeared to reflect. " Perrier," said he, 
" I am weary of life ; you are poor, and want money : I know 
Gilly and the place of his concealment ; let us denounce him ; 
I shall, no doubt, obtain my liberty, and you shall have the ten 
thousand francs." The old man stood speechless, and as if 
petrified. His son, a gigantic peasant, twenty-seven years of 
age, who had served in the army, rose from his chair, in which 
he had listened to the conversation, and in a tone not to be 
described, said, " Sir, hitherto we thought you unfortunate, but 
honest ; we have respected your sorrow and kept your secret ; 
but, since you are one of those wretched beings who would 
inform of a fellow-creature, and insure his death to save your- 
self, there is the door; and if you do not retire, I will throw you 
out of the window." Gilly hesitated ; the peasant insisted ; the 
general wished to explain, but he was seized by the collar. 
" Suppose I should be general Gilly," said the fugitive. The 
soldier paused. " And it is even so," continued he ; " denounce 
me, and the ten thousand francs are yours." The soldier threw 
himself on his neck; the family were dissolved tears; they 
kissed his hands, his clothes, protested that they would never let 
him leave them, and that they would die rather than he should 



I 



FRENCH PERSECUTIONS 1814 TO 1820. 323 

be arrested. In their kindness he was more secure than ever : 
but their cottage was more suspected, and he was ultimately 
obliged to seek another asylum. The family refused any in- 
demnity for the expense he had occasioned them, and it was 
not till long after that he could prevail upon them to accept an 
acknowledgment for their hospitality and their fidelity. In 
1820, when the course of justice was more free, general Gilly 
demanded a trial; there was nothing against him; and the 
duke d'Angouleme conveyed to madame Gilly the permission 
of the king for the return of her husband to the bosom of his 
country. 

But, even when the French government was resolved to bring 
the factions of the department of Gard under the laws, the same 
men continued to exercise the public functions. The society 
called Royale, and its secret committee, maintained a power 
superior to the laws. It was impossible to procure the condem- 
nation of an assassin, though the evidence against him was 
incontestible, and for whom, in other times, there -would have 
been no hope. The Truphemys, and others of this stamp, 
appeared in public, wearing- immense mustachios, and white 
cockades embroidered with green. Like the brigands of Cala- 
bria, they had two pistols and a poniard at their waists. Their 
appearance diffused an air of melancholy mixed with indigna- 
tion. Even amidst the bustle of the day there was the silence 
of fear, and the night was disturbed by atrocious songs, or 
vociferations like the sudden cry of ferocious wild beasts. 

ULTIMATE RESOLUTION OF THE PROTESTANTS AT NISMES. 

With respect to the conduct of the Protestants, these highly 
outraged citizens, pushed to extremities by their persecutors, felt 
at length that they had only to choose the manner in which 
they were to perish. They unanimously determined that they 
would die fighting in their own defence. This firm attitude 
apprized their butchers that they could no longer murder with 
impunity. Every thing was immediately changed. Those 
who for four years had filled others with terror, now felt it in 
their turn. They trembled at the force which men so long 
resigned found in despair, and their alarm was heightened 
when they heard that the inhabitants of the Cevennes, per- 
suaded of the danger of their brethren, were marching to their 
assistance. But, without waiting for these reinforcements, the 
Protestants appeared at night in the same order, and armed in 
the same manner, as their enemies. The others paraded the 
Boulevards, with their usual noise and fury ; but the Protect- 



324 SUFFERINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS* 

ants remained silent and firm in the posts they had chosen. 
Three days these dangerous and ominous meetings continued ; 
but the effusion of blood was prevented by the efforts of some 
worthy citizens distinguished by their rank and fortune. By 
sharing the dangers of the Protestant population, they obtained 
the pardon of an enemy who now trembled while he menaced. 

But though the Protestants were modest in their demands, 
only asking present safety, and security for the future, they did 
not obtain above half of their requests. The dissolution of the 
national guard at Nismes was owing to the prudence and firm- 
ness of M. Laine. The reorganization of the cour rayale was 
effected by M. Pasquier, then keeper of the seals ; and these 
measures certainly insured them a present safety, but no more. 
M. Madier du Montgau, the generous champion of the Protest- 
ants of Nismes, was officially summoned before the court of 
cassation at Paris, over which M. de Serre, keeper of the seals, 
presided, to answer for an alleged impropriety of conduct as a 
magistrate, in making those public appeals to the chamber 
which saved the Protestants, and increased the difficulties of 
renewing those persecutions of which he complained. The 
French attorney general demanded the erasure of his name 
from the list of magistrates, but this the court refused. Unfor- 
tunately, since the law of elections in France has been changed, 
two of the bitterest enemies of the Protestants have been chosen 
deputies at Nismes. The future, therefore, is not without its 
dangers, and the condition of the persecuted may fluctuate with 
the slightest political alteration ; but which, it is to be hoped, 
may be prevented from any acts that may again disgrace the 
Catholic religion by the powerful expression of the public mind, 
actuated with better principles, or by the interference of the 
Protestant influence in this or other countries. Happily, since 
the year 1820, no fresh complaints have issued from the south 
of France on the score of religion. 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: May 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724) 779-21 1 1 



I 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




014 167 808 5 



i 

■"■Br 




111 SI 
IBIlllii 

BflfflffH toff 
ES33I B 

sllli 




